More Complicated than a Love Triangle
by Annibelle White
Summary: A lot of stories discuss Fiyero's arranged marriage and how Fiyero and Elphaba got around it. But what if Elphaba, too, was supposed to be married to someone and then she fell in love with Fiyero? What if that someone was Boq?
1. Chapter 1: Stuck

**Author's Note: Before I even name a chapter, I want to acknowledge Shaggelmalove. The majority of the premise for this story was her idea, because I told her I felt stuck. I think it's brilliant and I am honored that I am able to use it. *Takes a deep breath* Here goes nothing!**

**Chapter 1: Stuck**

"Seriously, it's just obnoxious!" Elphaba insisted, her green face flush with both exhaustion and irritation.

"I'm trying to help and I'm obnoxious? Rich," Boq grumbled his way up the stairs.

"First of all, I have _one_ bag. I can take myself to my new dorm all by myself, thank you very much."  
>"I just want to see where you're living."<p>

"Seriously, you seem to think you have to do everything with me just because our idiot parents are forcing us to get married come graduation. I don't even care, Boq. No offense, but you know I'm not interested. It doesn't freaking matter. It's the arrangement, so be it, but you don't have to aggravate it by hanging around all the damn time!"

"I'm just trying to be nice, Elphie."  
>"I swear to Oz if you call me that again… ugh!" They were on the fourth set of stairs and Elphaba's room was to be on the eighth floor.<p>

"I've called you that since we were kids."

"We aren't kids anymore! And that was long before our parents informed us were had to get married. Now it's just annoying and wrong, okay?"

"Fine. Look, Elphaba, I'm just trying to get along with you. We got along okay before our parents told us all this; why can't we get along now?"

"Because when you were my friend by _choice_ I didn't see you as someone I was forced to spend time around. Now it's just different, okay?"

"Can't we just act normal, please? I like you well enough, even if I don't love you, and we really should try to be peaceful about all of this."

"I'm not going to refuse, if that's what you're saying. I follow the rules. I do what my father tells me. But that doesn't mean I have to like it." Elphaba swung open the door to room 842 then and both of them fell silent.

A curly haired blonde blue-eyed girl stood at the door to greet them, looking excited until she saw Elphaba. Then she looked confused for a brief moment. The girl seemed to realize she was staring and lowered her eyes for a moment before she looked back up at them. "Hi! You must be my new roommate, Elphaba," she said, clearly a little less enthusiastic than she had been before she had seen them. "I'm Galinda! I mean, in case you didn't get all the roommate information in your move-in letter…" She acted as though she wanted to give Elphaba a hug.

Elphaba stuck out her hand for Galinda to shake, instead. "Hello. I guess I don't need to introduce myself. This is Boq, my - "

"friend," Boq finished quickly, shooting Elphaba a look.

Elphaba was a little curious, since "friend" was exactly what she was going to say. She didn't really feel like getting into a deep discussion of her life with this girl. Why would she tell her about the whole thing? "Yes. We came together from Munchkinland since we live so close to each other and were both headed out here, we figured we'd share a ride." She looked over at Boq.

Boq was staring at Galinda, his cheeks even redder than his usual ruddy complexion. He had a lopsided smile on his face.

Elphaba sighed. Typical. He was stunned by the pale, beautiful girl in front of him. She didn't much care, though. She didn't have any feelings for him so jealousy wasn't even an idea. He could stare at whoever he wanted to. It didn't matter; in the end, they'd be stuck with each other.

Galinda flashed another perfect smile and said, "I'd love to talk to you and learn all about you! But I was just about to go to the bookstore. I can sit and wait while you unpack," she glanced at Elphaba's meager bag as though she was expecting something else, "and we can go together, if you want."

"Oh, no," Elphaba forced a smile, "that's okay. We picked up our books before we got here. But thank you."

"Okay, well… I'll just be going for a bit. Then we absolutely have to talk!" Galinda hurried daintily out the door and closed it gently behind her.

Boq blinked. "She seems nice!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes and shrugged. "I guess. I don't really intend on spending a lot of time with her, anyway."

"Why not? She seems really friendly! We could all hang out."

Elphaba was not clueless, but she didn't feel like mentioning to Boq that she knew that he thought Galinda was cute. Why bother? "Whatever."

"You know," he started almost shyly, "I've been thinking about something."

"Let me just express my shock that you've been thinking," Elphaba quipped and made a surprised face.

"Seriously, Elphaba."

"Okay, fine."

"Well, I know that you're really not happy about this whole thing and you're my friend and whatever, but maybe we just shouldn't tell anyone about…" He trailed off, trying to think of the right words.

"About the fact that we're being forced into getting married once we graduate?"

"Yeah, that," he shrugged.

"I really wasn't planning on talking much about it in the first place."

"Good, then. So we're agreed?"

"If that's what you want," Elphaba placed her bag on her empty bed (the other one was pink and white with ruffles) and began to open it. She knew what he was doing, although she didn't understand why. In the long term, it wouldn't change a thing. It might actually make things worse. But that was his problem, not hers.

"Cool. Do you want help unpacking?"

"Does it look like I need help?"

"I'll take that as a 'no.'"

"I could just sit and keep you company," he offered desperately.

Elphaba shook her head. Sweet Oz, he was pathetic. He only wanted to hang around to see Galinda again. "I don't need company. In fact, I don't much like company. But if you want to stay here and learn more about my new roommate, that's fine."

Boq looked at her, alarmed. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing. I just thought that since you think she's so friendly, you might want to talk to her, too. I'm not the friendliest person in the world."

He looked relieved. "Well, I would like to make some friends, and it seems like an easy way to make a friend if she's so willing to talk to you."

"I'm not as excited to _make friends_ as you are, Boq. I'm sure she's… nice, but does she look like the type of person I'd hang out with?"

Boq almost laughed at this. "I guess not."

"So if you want to stay here and talk to her and get me out of talking to her, that would be perfectly fine by me." Elphaba figured that maybe if he was distracted by Galinda, he wouldn't follow her around all the time and she wouldn't have to be reminded of that dreadful thing her parents – well, parent now that Melena was dead – were forcing on her after graduation. Or maybe, if she got especially lucky, Boq would do something stupid and it wouldn't be her fault if the whole thing fell apart. She wasn't going to back out of it. She knew Frex would never forgive her, and despite the fact that he had not been the best father, part of her still wanted his approval. But she wouldn't be upset, per se, if Boq decided to run off and she didn't end up having to get married to him – to anyone, really.

Elphaba sighed as she started arranging her clothes and Boq sat down in her desk chair. Both she and Boq and been all excited about going off to Shiz and then just before they left, his parents and her father had sat them down and given them a little talk. When they were young, seeing how well they got along and how Boq didn't seem absolutely horrified by Elphaba's skin, their parents had gotten the idea that they should marry. It was beneficial to Frex because he thought Elphaba wouldn't get married otherwise (he didn't say that to her in so many words, but she knew) and it was beneficial to Boq's parents because they would be marrying their son to the Third Thropp Descending, soon to be Eminent Thropp. Elphaba was the only one to look truly upset; Boq had just looked resigned. She knew she had to, but it didn't mean she had to like it. And she wasn't going to like it. Not at all.


	2. Chapter 2: Making Friends?

**Author's Note: Wow, thank you so much for the reviews and the "favorite-ing!" I am honored. And once again, I do NOT take credit for the idea. I was talking with Shaggelmalove and she said, "what if Elphaba was in an arranged marriage?" and I immediately went, "BRILLIANT. With Boq. It'd be PERFECT." And I was lucky enough that she let me use the idea. I also have a little in my head for way of Forced Love, so expect an update in that soon. I do need to stress that I am taking summer classes and I am moving in 5 weeks, not to mention I'm raising a puppy, so I'm a little busy. But I love this; it is my guilty pleasure. Any writer who ever feels like they need some help or just wants to talk about writing, please send me a PM. I would be happy to talk. I also had an idea for this chapter last night, but I thought I was skipping over too much. That MIGHT mean that this will become two chapters. MAYBE.**

**Chapter Two: Making "Friends"?**

When Boq finally left, Galinda turned to Elphaba. "May I ask you an awkward question?"

"I know what you're going to ask," Elphaba replied nonchalantly, "and I have no idea why I'm green. I'm not elfish and, as far as I know, there is nothing in my family that would cause this coloring. I was born like this."

Galinda blinked. "Oh. Well, I didn't mean to be rude…"

"Look, Galinda, I'm used to it. I've been made fun of plenty. I'd rather have someone ask straight out what happened rather than assume I'm diseased or something."

"You look normal. I mean, aside from… well, you don't look diseased."

Elphaba slightly enjoyed how uncomfortable this conversation seemed to be making the talkative young woman. Maybe she'd be so uneasy that she wouldn't ask her too many questions.

"So you're from Munchkinland, you said?"

"Yes. I forgot to ask where you are from."

"Gilikin, the Upplands."

"That makes sense."

"So what made you come to Shiz?"

"Uh, it's the only university that takes women right now."

"No, I meant why did you want to go to a university in the first place?"

"I want to continue learning, I guess." Elphaba shrugged.

"What about?"

"Everything. I haven't figured it out."

"I'm thinking of studying sorcery. I'm in a small class with Madame Morrible."

Elphaba was impressed at this. "That's pretty intense."

"I don't know. One of my teachers back home sent a recommendation letter and she decided to put me in her class. I've never tried sorcery before. Isn't there any one subject you like better than any of the others?"

"Perhaps the sciences – all of them, social sciences, too."

"That's still a lot to narrow down."

"I have a little time."

"That is true. We've got four full years here! I can't believe it. I bet it'll really just fly by."

Elphaba seemed skeptical. "Sure."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"A sister..."

Galinda paused a moment. "Is she…?"

"No. She's not green."

"Oh, sorry."

"Like I said, it's okay. I'm used to it."

"What's she like?"

"She's my sister. I don't know what else to say."

"I'm an only child. I always wanted a little sister."

"I have a brother, too," Elphaba muttered. "And no," she added, "he's not green, either."

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Galinda cocked her head.

Elphaba almost wanted to tell her that yes, she was. It would've been true. But she had to live with this girl for the year and she had to get this out of the way sooner or later. "No."

"You're just not saying a lot."

"I just don't feel like I have a lot to say."

Galinda seemed a little frustrated that her roommate was not divulging much. "I came here mostly because my parents wanted me to. I mean, I like school and all, and I'm so excited to get out on my own – well, aside from my Ama – and make friends and meet boys. What about you?"

"I already have a friend. Boq."

"Well, of course. I already have friends here, too, but it can't hurt to make more."

"I guess."

"And what about boys?"

Elphaba raised her eyebrows at Galinda. "I'll be honest here, okay? I don't really want a relationship. I don't see the point. And besides," Elphaba took a deep breathe, "it's not like anyone's going to want a relationship with me anyway." She bowed her head, suddenly. Why had she just said that? She'd always felt that way, but she never really told anyone. Who would care? Although she hadn't wanted the blonde girl to ask her questions, she realized no one had ever really been interested to ask some of the things Galinda was asking her.

"You have that friend," Galinda said, "Boq? How do you know he wouldn't like you?"

Elphaba cackled for a moment. "He wouldn't. And even if he did… ew." She thought to herself, _only if I'm forced to._

Galinda giggled a little bit at Elphaba's response. "I guess there are some boys to be friends with and some boys to date."

"I am not interested in dating. I'm here to study."

"I don't see why you can't do both."

"Galinda, I'm not that kind of girl, okay?" Elphaba was getting a little exasperated.

"I didn't know there was another kind, I guess. Every girl I've ever known has been all about boys."

"I'm not every girl," Elphaba gestured at herself.

"Elphaba, I won't lie. When you first walked in here, I was a little freaked out by your appearance. But after a few minutes, it actually looks pretty if you used it the right way. I mean, no offense, but what you're wearing isn't flattering, and you could use some really lovely eye shadow to bring out the color, but if you did wear the right thing, I think you'd be surprised by how people would look at you."

Elphaba stared at her roommate. Not that she'd even consider a suggestion she'd just been given, but no one had ever said she had even the potential to be pretty. She wasn't sure if she believed Galinda. This girl seemed a little too involved with herself, really. But why would she bother to say that? She didn't have to. "I… I'll keep that in mind."

"And you should make some friends, really. I don't think it's healthy to just study all day!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes to herself when Galinda glanced in the mirror. "I read, too. Not just school books."

"Still, friends are always a good thing to have."

Elphaba sighed, "If you say so."

Galinda smiled sweetly at her. "I'll introduce you to some of my friends tomorrow. Pfanee and Shen-Shen will be stopping by."

Elphaba tried to look happy about this, but she really didn't care for people. And though Galinda seemed nice enough, she didn't trust that her friends wouldn't judge. She couldn't be sure that Galinda wasn't secretly laughing at her, either. "That's nice."

"Your friend Boq seemed very nice, Elphaba. I'm glad you have such a good friend."

_If you only knew_, Elphaba thought. "He's okay. He seemed to think that you were very nice, too," she offered. She stopped herself from saying more. Elphaba was not going to manipulate this girl into some love triangle (okay, there was really no love involved) just because she wanted to get out of having to marry Boq. Elphaba didn't trust Galinda yet – no way in hell. But she wasn't quite ready to brush her off just yet, either.


	3. Chapter 3: An Unlikely Prince

**Author's Note: This is what I thought about last night. Worst thing about writing? When I'm in the beginning/middle of something I sit up thinking of what to write next and then I never sleep. And really, I should be doing homework… And finally, it is time to introduce Fiyero. I'm pretty sure I've never actually waited this long to introduce him. I'm so impatient and I had to do it now. It weird to me at first, and I don't know why. But I felt like I was getting into it as I got along. I hope you all like it!**

**Chapter Three: An Unlikely Prince**

Elphaba was hurrying to her first day of classes, pushing through crowds of students, several of whom stopped and stared at her. She ignored them. The crowd seemed to be thinning out and she strode faster towards the history building, looking straight ahead. There was a blur as someone walked right into her.

She saw a flash of brown and almost tripped. A hand grabbed her arm, but not before one of her books ended up in the mud. "Oh, shit."

"I am so sorry. I was staring at my map. I'm a little lost and… I apologize."

That was when Elphaba finally looked at the person who had run into her and had stopped her from falling face first into the mud (she wondered if mud would hurt her as much as water). He was not what she expected see. He was a Vinkun. His skin was deep brown and he had diamond markings on his arms, face and neck. She stared at him for a moment.

"Your book," he said suddenly, "I didn't mean to… I really am sorry."

She looked down at her science book. It had sunk deep into the mud like it was quicksand. It wouldn't help to try and fish it out at this point. It had to be unreadable. "I don't think I'll be reading that any time soon."

"Look," the boy said, "it's clearly my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm sure that book wasn't cheap. Let me buy you a new one. I only hope you don't need it right now."

"I don't," she replied. "I was going to the library after class for some peace and quiet and I was just going to skim through my books. I don't have life sciences until later in the week."

"I'm taking that, too. I know which book you need. Please let me replace it for you."

She did not like to take other people's charity. But she couldn't afford a new book at that point and it was his fault. Elphaba couldn't very well go without an important textbook if she wanted to do well. "I… that's very kind of you, um, what's your name?"

"Fiyero. And yours?"

"Elphaba." She realized then that, while yes, he was looking at her, he wasn't gawking like so many people did when they first met her. He seemed more intrigued than that, not horrified and disgusted. "Did you just come here from the Vinkus?"

"Yes. I got here yesterday."

She nodded. That explained it. Of course he didn't stare at her. He was seeing all sorts of people who looked different to him. "Oh." She heard the clock bells begin to chime and it reminded her that she only had ten minutes to make it to class. "I'm late…"

"When will I be replacing your book? I can buy it this afternoon. Let me buy you lunch tomorrow and I'll give it to you then. It's the least I can do."

She would've refused and insisted he just drop it by her room, but she was in a hurry. "Um, okay…" It seemed a little strange to invite a stranger to have lunch, but she didn't know what kind of customs he was used to.

"There's this little soup place down on Third Street. I'll meet you there at noon, okay?"

"Sounds fine. I have class until eleven and then I have a break until two." She had meant to spend that time in the library… "I really do have to go or I'll be late for class."

He nodded. "I should probably get going, too. I'll see you tomorrow, Elphaba."

She gave him a small acknowledging nod and ran off towards class. It wasn't until she sat down and had a moment to herself that she realized how odd that encounter was, not just in the way he acted, but in the way she had acted. Perhaps she had been distracted by the fact that she was, for the first time, seeing someone who looked much different from the people who had surrounded her growing up. As much as she wanted to isolate herself from other people, part of her sympathized with him. He probably wouldn't fit in well around here, and maybe would have more trouble making friends than she would (if she bothered to try). She knew customs in the Vinkus were not quite the same as what most of the students around here were used to, and it might make it hard for him to connect with other people. While she had no interest in making friends, he probably did. She could at least try and help him for a minute. Or introduce him to Galinda – she'd be sure to help him fit in.

After her literature class the next morning, Elphaba dropped several of her books off in her room before she went to meet Fiyero. Galinda was in the room digging through one of her drawers. "Hey, I was just…"

"Oh, Elphaba! Would you like to go to lunch with us? Pfanee, Shen-Shen and I were going to hang out with some guy they met and a few of his friends. I think his name is Avaric. You are welcome to join us."

"Sorry, I already have plans."

Galinda struggled not make it obvious that she did a double take. "Oh, that's nice. Who with?"

"Long story. I'll tell you later or we'll both be late."

"I can be late…"

"I shouldn't be." She didn't feel like explaining to Galinda what had gone on yesterday, or why she had agreed to actually meet Fiyero for lunch. She didn't quite know why for herself, so explaining it to someone else would be near impossible. Elphaba shut the door behind her and ran down the stairs.

Fiyero was waiting outside when she arrived. "Hey," he handed her the book. "Again, I apologize for ruining your old book."

"It's fine. Offering to replace it was more than enough to make up for it." She thought that maybe, now that she had her book, she'd just tell him she wasn't hungry and weasel her way out of having lunch with him, but she thought that just might be too rude, and this poor boy didn't deserve that. He didn't even know how things worked out here.

They sat down at a table in the darkened room. "Thank you for letting me buy you lunch. I felt bad about yesterday."

"You don't need to buy me lunch. I can afford it myself."

"It's not a problem."

"Really, don't bother." Elphaba paused. "I can take care of my own food."

Fiyero sighed. "That's fine, if you insist. Where are you from? I've never seen anyone quite like you before."

Elphaba had been anticipating this question. "Munchkinland. I'm… I'm not normal. The skin is kind of an aberration."

"It looks so natural," he observed.

Elphaba flushed, although she wasn't so sure it was even a compliment. "Um, well, tell me about life in the Vinkus. I've heard so little and I am pretty curious. How do things work out there?"

"Well, I… I'm actually a prince."

"What?"

"There are tribes out in the Vinkus, three of them, mainly. I am the prince of the Arjiki tribe."

"Wow… What's your government like? What are the people like?"

"The government is actually really simple. My father doesn't seem to have a lot of trouble. Everything is pretty tame. Occasionally he has meetings with the Wizard, but other than that, people just listen to him."

"Sounds almost too easy," Elphaba commented as their soups were placed in front of them.

"Heh, it's not. There's a lot of responsibility that comes with it."

"Like what?"

"Like my wife was chosen for me when I was eight." Fiyero began to sip at his soup.

"You're married?"

"Not yet. I am arranged to be married."

Elphaba almost said, "Me, too!" but bit her tongue. After a moment she asked, "Are you okay with that?"

"It's custom. But it really doesn't seem like a big deal. I've met her once, a long time ago. I'm pretty sure my family doesn't care. It's more like she was offered up to marry me because she was one of the prettier young girls in the village, I think. As I said, I was eight and I'm not quite sure I could judge pretty then, much less now," he paused as he looked at Elphaba. "But, um, I don't know if I'm really going to be forced to do it. I think it's just a courtesy that she's there for me to marry. I don't know exactly, I haven't really asked about it."

Elphaba wanted to voice her opinions about arranged marriages, but she didn't want to offend him or his culture. She tried to word her thoughts carefully. "I just feel like people should be able to choose."

"I think I'd be allowed to, if I asked. No one really has asked."

"But what about that girl? She isn't allowed to. At least not unless you decide not to."

"I guess that's true."

"Is that really fair?"

"I don't… I'm not sure. It's custom."

"You already said that. Are you going to marry her?"

"Unless I find a reason not to…"

Elphaba suddenly felt uncomfortable under his gaze. "Um, I really did want to look through this book before tomorrow afternoon, I should go…"

"You have life sciences tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yes…"

"So do I."

"Oh…"

"I guess I'll see you there, then, Elphaba."

"Um, yeah. I really need to go…" She threw some cash on the table and hurried out into the sun. Elphaba took a deep breath. She didn't know why she'd all of the sudden gotten so nervous. There had been this look in his eyes and she didn't know what it meant. It scared her. And it scared her even more that she thought perhaps she had been giving him the same look, too.


	4. Chapter 4: New Additions to the Group

**Author's Note: I have had a little trouble with the characters. The truth is, there is no way to really say if they are or are not doing what they would be doing. This is a situation that would change a lot of their behavior. Also, although I tend to make most of my characters book characters, I always end up making Galinda more musical than book. I think the reason for that is because the characters in the book are so much more interesting and unique than the ones in the musical, with the exception of Galinda. I like writing her that way because she's more fun to write.**

**Chapter Four: New Additions to the Group**

Galinda wasn't willing to let Elphaba shrug her off when she asked her about lunch that evening. "So, what was up with you at lunch today, Elphaba?"

"I had other plans. I told you." Elphaba was looking through her new life sciences book.

"You did. But what were they?"

She thought about lying to her. "I had to catch up with Boq. Some of our stuff got mixed up on the ride to Shiz."

Galinda whirled around and looked sternly at Elphaba. "Really? I didn't see you at the table in the café with us yesterday."

Elphaba gulped. Oops. "Boq was with you guys?"

"Yeah, one of his roomies is Avaric's friend and Crope brought him along."

She had to wonder if Boq had known beforehand that Galinda was going to be there. "Small world, I guess."

"So small I'm pretty sure I would've seen you sitting at our table."

"Heh, yeah…"

"If you really don't want to tell me about it, then fine!" Galinda folded her arms across her chest and sat down on her bed.

"You're right, I don't."

"I don't know what in Oz you have to be so secretive about."

"I don't know why in Oz you have to know everything!"

Galinda backed down and lowered her eyes. "All you had to tell me was that you didn't want to talk about it. You didn't have to lie. I just happen to be curious. You are my roommate and I thought maybe we could be friends!"

"Look, Galinda, I don't like to talk about much. I just don't."

"So you don't want to try and get along?"

"That's not what I said."

"You say so little that I don't know what you're saying."

"We aren't from the same… type of people, Galinda. We're not alike. I'm not saying we can't get along; I'm just saying that we're very different."

"I'm starting to figure that out. But our worlds have already crossed. We've started to form a sort of group, and Boq is part of it. I thought you might be, too."

"I have a feeling I'm not the type of person who would fit in that group, Galinda."

"You could try! We're all eating lunch again tomorrow. Please come with."

Elphaba looked up into the pleading blue-grey eyes of her roommate. This was not what she had wanted her first days at Shiz to be like. She just wanted to be alone so she could study. But she knew Galinda was not going to leave her alone. Maybe if she went once, Galinda would see she didn't belong and just leave her the hell alone. "Fine."

"Good. I'm going to bed. You can keep reading; the light doesn't bother me."

Elphaba had been planning to keep reading anyway, but she didn't say that. "Good night, then."

"Good night."

After her morning mathematics class, Elphaba reluctantly trudged back to her room to meet Galinda. "Okay, I'm here."

Galinda looked almost surprised, as though she had expected Elphaba not to come. "We're meeting at the café in 10 minutes; we should go now."

"Then lead the way."

"I think Tibbet made a new friend or something. Another boy is coming along. They seemed to think he was weird – like them. Have I told you about them?"

"Who is 'them'?"

"Crope and Tibbet. They're a little strange. I think there might be something going on between them. But they're really funny."

"And one of them is Boq's roommate?"

"Crope. I think he makes Boq uncomfortable sometimes, but they get along okay."

"Oh." Elphaba hadn't bothered to meet Boq's roommate. She didn't much care.

Galinda stopped outside of the café. "I'll introduce you. You met Pfanee and Shen-Shen when you stopped by the other day, but you don't know any of the boys except Boq."

"Whatever." Elphaba paused when they reached the table. As much as she was frustrated with Boq, she could deal with him. But at the end of the table next to one of the other boys, Fiyero was sitting, staring at her.

"Hi, Elphaba!" Fiyero said brightly.

Galinda turned to her roommate, slightly confused. She gave her a questioning glance and Elphaba responded with a cold stare. "Hello," she said stiffly.

"Well, obviously you've already met," Galinda said, "but I want to introduce you to everyone. You already know Pfanee, Shen-Shen and Boq. Over there we have Avaric, Tibbet and Crope."

"Hi!" Crope and Tibbet squeaked in unison.

"Is she sick?" Avaric asked bluntly.

"No," Elphaba grunted.

"Well then why in hell are you that hideous puke color?"

"Avaric!" Galinda exclaimed, horrified. Fiyero and Boq both glared at him as well.

"I was just wondering. I mean, first we get this Winkie with skin the color of shit and now we've got this… thing?"

"Fuck off, Avaric," Fiyero grumbled.

"Please, Avaric," Galinda said calmly.

"Whatever."

"Hey, Elphie," Boq said, "do you have life sciences today?"

"Yes. After this."

"I do, too! And so does Fiyero. We could sit together."

She'd been there all of five minutes and she was already overwhelmed. "Uh, we'll see." Elphaba sank into a seat next to Galinda. For some reason, the idea of having to spend any time with just Fiyero and Boq seemed very wrong.

Pfanee, Shen-Shen and Avaric did not seem the least bit interested in talking with Elphaba, but Galinda tried her best to keep Elphaba in the loop, as resistant as she was to it. "Elphaba is my roommate," she informed Fiyero, Crope, Tibbet and Avaric."

"I'm sorry," replied Avaric.

Galinda glared at him.

Boq smiled stupidly at Galinda. "How have you guys been getting on?"

"Well, Elphie might not like to admit it, but I think we're going to be good friends!"

Elphaba bit her lip.

"I guess we can all hang out together then," Boq grinned.

Elphaba was trying not to roll her eyes. He was so clearly infatuated with Galinda that it made her want to vomit.

"Of course! Any friend of Elphaba's is my friend, too!" Galinda exclaimed.

For the rest of the lunch, Elphaba munched quietly on a salad, thinkingthat all she needed to do was get through this lunch and she'd be okay. Except that, when lunch was over, Boq looked at her expectantly.

"Are you ready to head to class, Elphie?" Boq grabbed his bag and gestured to Fiyero to do the same.

"Um, yeah. Sure."

Elphaba let Fiyero and Boq chat amicably as they walked over towards the sciences building. When they got there, she immediately sat herself in a far corner – that way she only had to sit next to one of them.

Fiyero grabbed the seat next to her while Boq put his stuff down and ran to the bathroom. "Boq tells me you guys grew up together?"

"We did," she said shortly.

"I wish I had a friend from back home here with me."

"You seem to be making friends quickly, anyway," she muttered.

"That's true. Tibbet is really friendly! He and I have literature class together. Although he's a little strange, and a little too friendly. But Crope and he seem to be really close so I'm not genuinely concerned…"

"Yeah. I don't think you need to worry. I doubt Crope is going to go abandoning Tibbet for the likes of anyone we know. Not Avaric. And certainly not Boq," Elphaba snorted.

"And I don't think Boq would go for it. He seems to be quite smitten with your roommate."

"And I thought I was the only one who noticed," Elphaba remarked sarcastically.

"It is obvious, isn't it?"

"Just a little," she raised her eyebrows.

"Do you think Galinda knows?"

"She hasn't said anything to me."

"They'd make a funny couple."

"I don't think it'll ever happen."

"Why? Galinda wouldn't like him?"

"Not just that. Boq… never mind." Elphaba looked down at her desk.

"Uh… okay… too bad. It'll be amusing if everyone starts to pair up."

"Really? I think it'll be stupid. Everyone will start fighting and acting clueless. And who'd actually put up with an asshole like Avaric?"

"Good point. And you're probably right. It's just amusing to see all this happening within the first week of meeting everyone. Back home, this was not how it worked. What about you?"

"I didn't pay any attention."

"Never had any boys pay attention to you?" He teased.

"If they did, I'd have kicked their asses." Elphaba responded pointedly.

Fiyero was silent for a moment and then Boq returned. Elphaba was surprised that she was almost grateful when Boq sat back down. Something about the way Fiyero spoke to her made her feel different. And she didn't want to feel different. She was perfectly fine with things as they were… well, aside from that damned marriage thing.


	5. Chapter 5: Study Break

**Author's Note: I really am not sleeping well. Ideas for this story plague me and won't let me rest. Occasionally an idea or two will come for "Forced Love" as well. I am beginning to feel very tired and sick. And I still can't stop writing. Plus, I am extremely irritable whenever someone tries to talk to me when I'm either writing or thinking about writing. Clearly I have an addiction going with this story. Haven't had that since I started my thesis, and that was only a day or two until I got it down.**

**Chapter 5: Study Break**

Again, Galinda had questions for Elphaba when she returned to the room. "Did you enjoy lunch?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on, Elphaba."

"I don't know, okay?"

"And how did you know that Winkie boy?"

"Fiyero," Elphaba corrected.

"How did you know him? I doubt your paths crossed while you were growing up in Munchkinland."

"I did spend some time in Quadling Country, you know."

Galinda looked exasperated. "Elphaba, really."

"He ran into me – literally – the other day. Ruined my life sciences book. And he insisted on replacing it. That's all."

"Oh," Galinda's pretty face fell, as though she had been hoping for something juicier than that. "On a different note, I wanted to ask you something."

"Really? Are you actually asking me if it's okay to bug me? Because that's not your style."

"No, it's just… Shen-Shen said something to me today. And I thought that if anyone would know, you might." Galinda seemed uncomfortable, almost awkward.

"Get to the point, please."

"Shen-Shen said that Boq has been staring at me a lot. She thinks maybe he likes me."

Elphaba blinked slowly. "And?"

"I thought that if he did, he might've told you."

In another world, he probably would've told her. But given their situation, it wasn't likely he'd reveal anything of the sort. But it was clear enough without him having to tell anyone. "He hasn't said anything to me, Galinda. The truth is we don't really talk about that stuff. Why does it matter?"

"I just wanted to know, that's all." Galinda's cheeks were rosier than usual.

Elphaba then asked a question she never thought she'd ask anyone. "Galinda, do you _like_ him?"

"Elphie…"

"Did you really just call me 'Elphie'?"

"Yes…"

"Don't."

"But Boq does."

"I've told him not to."

"Sorry."

"Just forget it, okay? Back to the question."

"Elphaba, I just met him. So no, I do not."

Elphaba didn't know if she was disappointed or not. After all, she had four years to hope that something would change, although she knew it was unlikely. "Okay, good to know."

"Do you think that he does, Elphaba? I mean, I know he hasn't said anything, but you know him best…"

"If you aren't interested, why are you pressing the issue?"

Galinda sat on her bed, grabbing one of her white ruffled pillows and fidgeting with it. It was beginning to get dark outside and the light from her desk made her face look even darker. "Well, I don't like him _now_. He's nice and all, but it's not…"

Elphaba sighed and sat down across from Galinda on her own bed, mattress stiff and not helped at all by her thin navy blanket and white sheets, though Elphaba didn't much care for soft comfort. "Isn't he a bit… less… classy… than you…?"

"Anyone who gets a good education has a chance to become classy, Elphaba."

"Not me," she stuck her nose in the air.

"Not if you don't want to, no. But you're right, he really isn't my type. But he is very nice. He doesn't seem like he has a lot of… status or money…"

"He doesn't have a lot, and I don't understand why in the hell that would matter to you. He had enough to afford to come here." She also realized he'd have a little bit of status if they ended up married, since she was Third Thropp Descending, but that wasn't something she wanted to add to the conversation.

"I guess. It is flattering when someone likes you – even if you don't like them back."

"I'd think it would be annoying." Elphaba grabbed her books. "I'm going to the library. I'll be back before bed."

The next day, Galinda tried to persuade Elphaba to go to lunch again. She refused and Galinda let the issue drop. Something seemed to have bothered her roommate yesterday and she thought maybe Elphaba needed some time to adjust. Glad to be rid of Galinda for an hour or two, she opened her life sciences book (she had class again the next day) and sat down just as there was a knock on the door.

Elphaba debated not answering the door when the person on the other side knocked again. She'd never get peace and quiet if she didn't deal with whoever it was. She flung open the door. "Fiyero?"

Fiyero had his backpack in hand. "Hi. Um, Galinda said you weren't coming to lunch and I just thought I'd…"

"How the hell did you know where my dorm is?"

"Boq told me."

"Lovely. Look, I told her I did not want to come."

"Oh. I just thought maybe she hadn't told you or something, so I just wanted to let you know." Fiyero seemed a little disappointed.

"Why do you care?"

"I was just being nice."

Elphaba folded her arms across her chest and sighed. "Well I'm not interested in going to lunch." She made as if to shut the door.

"Is it because of Avaric?" Fiyero persisted.

"What?"

"Because he was so rude the other day."

"Believe me, I can take it."

"Then why don't you want to come?"

"I was going to look over my books while I had some silence. I don't seem to be getting much of that around here."

"Do you eat at all?"

"Do you have to interrogate me? And yes, I do. By myself."

"I'm sorry. I just don't understand why you won't come to lunch."

She'd already had to explain to Galinda that she was not typical when it came to social interaction and now she would have to explain it all over again. "I'm not a people person. That should be clear by now."

Fiyero shrugged. "It's going to be a lonely four years if you don't at least try."

"Galinda has given me this speech already, and then she forced me to go eat with all of you."

He paused. "Well, why don't I study with you?"

"And why do you think _that's_ a good idea? I do not like to socialize."

"You don't have to. It's not like this is a big group lunch. It's just two people studying. I know you didn't seem to like eating with us all yesterday, but maybe you'd be better with just me?"

"What makes you think I want to be around you at all?"

Fiyero shook his head. "If you really don't want to be friends with me at all, I will leave you alone and never bother you again."

Elphaba bit her lip.

That pause told Fiyero what he needed to know. "So you don't completely hate me."

Elphaba walked away from the door and headed towards her desk.

"Um, does that mean I can come in?"

"Fine." Elphaba put her book down on the floor and began to read.

Fiyero sat a few feet away from her hesitantly.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, and then Elphaba broke the silence. "Why were you so pushy?"

"What do you mean?"

"I understand that you were trying to be nice in getting me to come to lunch, but why did you insist on continuing to talk to me?"

"Honestly? I like some of those guys well enough, but I wanted an excuse to get out of there and _stay_ out of there. Avaric really is an asshole. Crope and Tibbet were too involved with each other and no one else. Boq was too busy staring at Galinda. And the girls? If I hear one more word about make-up or shoes or clothing, I might snap."

"You could have just gone back to your dorm."

"Unlike you, I don't want to sit alone by myself in my room all the time."

"And you don't know _anyone_ else? You thought of me?"

"You were the one missing," he said, smiling at her. "And I realize that you basically quizzed me on my homeland and I didn't get to ask you much of anything."

"I guess that's true," she admitted.

"May I ask, or would you just like to talk about life sciences? Seeing as we haven't learned much yet, I don't know what there is to talk about."

"If you really want to ask, then ask," she said evasively.

"You said you were from Munchkinland. What was it like where you grew up?"

"Well I didn't grow up just in Munchkinland. My father's a minister and he went around preaching in Quadling Country for a while, although they really were not interested."

"What kind of minister?"

"Unionist."

"What about your mother?"

"She's dead. It happened quite a while ago," Elphaba shrugged.

"That's unfortunate…"

"She wasn't really around much, and when she was, she didn't really spend much time with me. I spent more time with my grandmother."

"That sounds sad."

"Don't give me the pity look, seriously. I'm probably better off this way."

"If you say so. Do you like it here, Elphaba?" Fiyero asked genuinely, deep blue eyes inquiring.

"I like the classes and some of the professors, especially out life sciences professor." Elphaba lowered her head. She didn't know anyone who'd ever really cared how she felt or what she thought. She'd never thought she'd care if anyone did, but she liked that he wanted to know what she thought.

"Dr. Dillamond?"

"Yes. Did you have a lot of Animals back in the Vinkus?"

"Not really. We're made up of tribes. We are usually pretty isolated. Right now my tribe is in power, but that doesn't mean anything. I don't see why Animals would want to even come out there. It's almost lonely, and there's not much of an environment for them, anyway."

"We had a couple that we came across when we traveled. They seemed isolated, too, and almost afraid of us."

"Dr. Dillamond certainly isn't afraid of his students!"

"No, although some of our classmates certainly do seem uncomfortable."

"I don't see why."

"Exactly. He is just as intelligent as any other professor here. And unlike a lot of the other professors, he is actually passionate about what he teaches. Speaking of, maybe we should look over what we learned last class, just in case he asks us about it tomorrow."

When Galinda walked in 45 minutes later, she raised her eyebrows but said nothing. Fiyero quickly jumped up said he had to prepare for his afternoon class and the rest of his books were in his dorm halfway across campus. He said "hi" to Galinda and left.

Instead of her usual questions, Galinda just looked at Elphaba expectantly. Elphaba pretended to ignore her and went on studying, but she could feel the blonde's eyes boring into her. Eventually she looked up at her. She didn't need to know what Galinda would ask. "First of all, why do you have to know about every single social encounter I have? I am not ten and you are not my mother. Second of all, he stopped by to see if I wanted to go to lunch with the rest of you and I told him that I'd already said no to you. He then asked if he could study with me and would not take 'no' for an answer."

"You know, Elphaba, boys don't usually act like that unless…"

"Oh shut up, Galinda! Not every boy and girl friendship has to be like that! And for Oz's sake, you said yesterday that it was too soon for you to be interested in anyone. Isn't it too soon for someone to be interested in me… especially _me_? Especially since that would never happen."

"I saw the way he looked at you."

"We've had all of three or four conversations since we met. I doubt it." But didn't Boq fall for Galinda right away? Well, that was based on looks. No one was falling in love with her at first sight, that was certain. Not that it mattered. She wouldn't and couldn't be interested anyway.


	6. Chapter 6: Elphaba's Problem

**Chapter 6: Elphaba's Problem**

Things went on like that for some time. Occasionally Elphaba would go to lunch with the group or hang out with them outside (provided it wasn't raining). Once in a while Fiyero knocked on the door to ask Elphaba for help with life sciences and once in a while Galinda tried to get Elphaba to listen to her "very good instincts when it comes to boys." The semester dragged on and as winter arrived, the pressure of final exams started to catch up to the students, as well as the excitement of a break for the winter holidays. Elphaba wasn't excited, of course. She wasn't even going home. Her father was out ministering somewhere and she didn't feel like going home, anyway.

As finals neared, both Fiyero and Boq begged Elphaba to study with them. While Elphaba was a good student overall, life sciences seemed to be her niche. Perhaps she just had a knack for it or perhaps Dr. Dillamond's passion for his subject was infectious. For reasons she still could not (or would not) understand, it still seemed strange to be with Boq and Fiyero, and things were getting more uncomfortable by the day.

One evening Boq came unexpectedly to Elphaba's dorm while Galinda was out. This surprised Elphaba – he never stopped by when Galinda wasn't there. He looked bothered. "Can we talk about something?"

Elphaba's eyebrows were raised. "What?"

"This is an… odd situation."

"When you're involved, Boq, it usually is."

Boq took a deep breath, his small chest inflating. "IhavefeelingsforMissGalinda," he spat out as if it were literally one word, not one sentence.

Elphaba looked at him, unperturbed. "Tell me something I didn't know, why don't you?"

Boq gaped at her.

"You are so obvious Boq. Everyone knows.

"Even Miss Galinda?"

"She probably suspects."

"Does it bother you?"

"Do you think I care? Because then you've definitely misjudged me Boq. Honestly I don't want you at all, so why should I be bothered by you liking Galinda?"

"Has she said anything about me?"

"Does it matter, Boq? You couldn't get anywhere, even if she did, thanks to our parents."

"And that's why I came to you."

"What do you want me to do?" Elphaba put her hands on her hips. I'm not making any decisions for you."

"That's not… I was just… I had hoped maybe… Okay, okay, why don't we just have fun for these next three and a half years, date people and just keep this mess between us?"

"Because it's deceitful! Not to mention that my idea of fun is not dating."

"I can't do this, Elphie."

"Then don't. Go tell your parents that you refuse."

"They'll pull me out of Shiz!"

"Really, Boq," Elphaba grumbled, exasperated, "this isn't my problem."

"Are you sure it isn't?" He challenged.

"What are you saying?"

"You really don't know, do you?"

"What the hell are you getting at?" Elphaba was beyond frustrated. Boq was talking in circles and she didn't have the patience to deal with him.

"You are obvious, too, Elphaba."

Elphaba blinked. "Obvious?"

"About Fiyero."

"Are you freaking kidding me? Seriously?"

"You spend more time with him than anyone else."

"Just because I spend time with him doesn't mean anything. Why do you have to jump to conclusions like this?"

"Maybe you don't. But he certainly hopes you do."

"Oh, I'm sure," Elphaba said sarcastically. "And has he told you this?"

"Not necessarily," Boq admitted.

"Then you're wrong. You're just trying to throw this back at me so I can get you out of it. You're so spineless."

"You know what? Forget it. You're right. It's not your problem." Boq slammed the door as he left, leaving Elphaba staring in his wake.

For Oz's sake, Boq wasn't even thinking through his ideas. As much as Elphaba did not care for relationships, it should've been obvious to him that dating someone and not telling them that it couldn't possibly lead to anything wasn't fair. And despite the fact that Elphaba didn't always like Galinda, the idea that Boq would do that to her roommate had her feeling a little defensive. An what the hell was he talking about with Fiyero?

She knew that something about him did attract her, as much as she hated to admit it. It was a feeling that she didn't know she could have. Fiyero was exotic and beautiful. He did not judge her the way everyone else did. But she knew better than to let that get to her the way that Boq was apparently letting his feeling for Galinda get to him. Boq's problem was not her problem. She wouldn't let it be.

When Elphaba saw Boq in class the next day, he seemed normal, although he and Fiyero were talking in low voices to one another for the majority of the class. No wonder they always needed help from her. Clearly they weren't paying any attention, even on the last class before finals.

After class, she left the two of them to talk and headed back to her room, but Fiyero caught up to her a minute later. "Can we study this evening?"

"Maybe if you paid attention instead of talking to Boq, you wouldn't need my help studying."

"Boq was having a bad day, I was just trying to help."

Elphaba almost froze, wondering exactly how much Boq might have revealed. "Oh, really? What is wrong?" Why was she still so worried that Fiyero would find out? Maybe, just maybe, she and Boq did have the same problem. But, no. She couldn't.

"He went on and on about not ever being able to be with Galinda. It actually confused me."

"Why?"

"Because he hasn't even tried to really court her or anything. I tried to tell him that, but he just kept shaking his head and said I couldn't possibly understand."

Elphaba nodded, relieved. "He is a little weird sometimes."

"So are you. And so am I." Fiyero smiled at her. "So can we study, please?"

She looked into his dark pleading eyes, trying to resist the way they made her feel ever so slightly weak. She tried to ignore the way his gorgeous tribal markings fascinated her against his ochre skin. This was not what she wanted to feel. Not now. Not ever. But the truth was, as brief and angry as her conversation with Boq had been, he had gotten to her. And now she didn't know what to do. Should she avoid Fiyero altogether? Should she simply hope that nothing would change? After all, he couldn't like her. They were almost at her building. "Just for a little," Elphaba acquiesced. Galinda was usually in the room at this time anyway.

Galinda greeted Fiyero quickly, seeming slightly confused. "Hi, Fiyero."

"Hey."

"Where's Boq? Lately he's been with you guys when you study after class…"

Elphaba wanted to say that of course Boq had been there lately. He had figured out that Galinda was there at this time of day, too. Maybe that was why he wasn't there at the moment.

"He said something about getting an early dinner at the café. I think he wasn't in a great mood today." Fiyero shrugged.

"Oh. Well, Pfanee wanted to go over to the café anyway; maybe we can keep him company."

"Are you sure? I mean, maybe he's so moody that he isn't up to talking. You guys should just hang here," Elphaba insisted.

"Don't be silly! I'll be back later!" Galinda grabbed her little pink bag and left.

"Maybe she does like him," Fiyero observed.

"He's too much below her. She just likes the attention." Elphaba opened her book at sat on the floor. Fiyero sat beside her. It seemed as though he was slightly closer than usual. She could almost feel his breath.

"Maybe. It's a little shallow."

"Are you surprised?"

"I guess not."

Elphaba flipped through the book quickly. "What is it you want to work on?"

Fiyero put his hand on the book and shut it. "Something Boq said bothered me today. I mean, he wants to be with Galinda so badly and he won't even try. But I've been doing the same thing… with you." He gently rested his hand on hers.

Elphaba leapt up. "Dammit Fiyero, why do you have to do this?" She swatted his hand away. "I was hoping that… that you didn't feel like this, too." Elphaba strode across the room, staring out the window to avoid looking at him.

"Too?" Fiyero questioned, standing up.  
>"It doesn't matter, Fiyero. It can't happen."<p>

"Why? You don't want it to?"

"I don't know the answer to that," Elphaba admitted quickly, "and _it doesn't matter_."

"But _why _doesn't it matter? Is this because I'm arranged to be married? I told you that it isn't necessarily set in stone…"

"No it's not because of your arranged marriage." Elphaba looked at him, "It's because of mine."


	7. Chapter 7: Complicated

**Author's Note: This chapter was really tough to write. I have an idea to temporarily fix the problem for them, but I wasn't quite sure how to implement it, and I didn't want it to be so easy. I wanted at least one conversation where they (well, Elphaba at least) had given up on being together. I partly wanted the idea to come from Fiyero, but I felt like Elphaba might not go along with it unless both she and Boq thought about it. Anyway, I don't even really reveal it this chapter, so I guess I should stop talking about it. When I get kind of stuck on this, I will update Forced Love. I think, though, before I go _too_ much further with either of these stories that I need to write myself an outline. I need to know what's coming next and I need to have a place to end. Some of the other stories that haven't ended are merely because I never decided to and I couldn't let the story end.  
><strong>

**Chapter 7: Complicated**

"Boq? Are you serious?" Fiyero stared at Elphaba, stunned. "This is a joke, right?"

"No, it's not." Elphaba thought for a moment. "Wait a second, Boq put you up to this, didn't he?"

"Put me up to what?"

"Trying to… acting like you have feelings for me. He's hoping that I'll freak out and tell my father that it's not happening and he'll be free."

"I didn't even know about this whole situation until ten minutes ago."

"Boq was here last night. He wanted to try and date people and not tell them that it wasn't going anywhere because in three and half years he's stuck with me. I told him it was wrong. And then he said something about you and me."

"You really think Boq would've put me up to this? You really think I would've gone along with it and done something like that?"

"You're right. He's not that crafty," Elphaba decided.

"Wait, let me get this straight: Your parents arranged for you and Boq to get married. And you're going along with it?"

Elphaba sat down on her bed. "Well I certainly don't like it. But if I refused, they'd stop paying for school."

"And Boq? How does he feel about this?"

"The same way that I do. But he's resigned to it. He certainly won't speak up about it. He's a pushover. Do you know see why he was complaining about not being able to be with Galinda?"

Fiyero sat down on Elphaba's desk chair, looking at her. "But why? Why would your parents…?"

"My parents thought that no one would ever love me. And I'm to be Eminent Thropp, so Boq's parents seized the opportunity."

"Eminent Thropp?"

"Yes. Lucky me. I'd throw it away if I could. Honestly I could care less. If I could give it to my sister, I would."

"This is insane."

"Says the person who's also arranged to be married."

"It's just… how come it had to be the two of us? Of all people, we end up…"

"We end up what, Fiyero? We are nothing. We can't be."

"Why not? Why can't we just try for a little bit? We both are aware of the situation; it's not like we're lying to each other." Fiyero looked at her.

Elphaba studied the window again, staring at the grass, a more forest green than her skin, and the sky, a lighter blue than his diamonds. They never really touched, she knew. It only looked like they did. But they never could. "And what happens if we both end up wanting that? What is the point pretending to have something we can't have forever? It'd be easier just not to bother, that way we don't end up getting too invested."

"Because if we do get forced apart, at least we'll have had something once."

"That's not how my mind works, Fiyero. It's a romantic concept, but it doesn't sit well with me. I'm sorry. I wouldn't be able to really even try in a relationship knowing it had to come to nothing in the end."

Fiyero stood up and sat next to her, touching her cheek. She did not back away immediately. "Then I guess… I don't know. This is just ridiculous."

She gently pulled his hand away. "It is, and I thought that before I even met you. We don't have a choice. And here I thought society was making progress…"

"So what happens now?"

"We go back to the way it was and never talk about this again."

"That's not how _my_ mind works."

"It has to be. I'm sorry, Fiyero. Please go." She got up and walked to the door.

"I'm not quite giving up, Elphaba. Maybe there's something we can't think of. I won't talk about it to you or to anyone else, not unless I figure something out."

"Good luck with that, Fiyero," she said somberly.

Without pretext, he leaned down and kissed her on the mouth. Before she could even think to pull away, he was halfway down the stairs.

Elphaba stood in the doorway for a moment, completely at a loss for what to think or feel. She closed the door softly and collapsed onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. It was barely the end of her first semester and look what she'd gotten herself into. Admittedly, she'd tried hard enough not to. Damn, Fiyero! Why did he have to be completely unlike anyone else and actually accept her? Why did he have to be so good to her, so handsome? Several months ago she would've laughed to think she'd feel like this, and yet here she was. And there was nothing she could do. She simply had to accept that.

Galinda came flouncing in a few moment later. "Elphaba…?"

"What?" Elphaba grunted irritably.

"Are you okay? Where's Fiyero?"

"We are done studying."

"You usually study for a lot more than forty-five minutes."

Elphaba took a deep breath. For once, she wanted to talk to Galinda about this, because she'd never been more lost and confused in her life. But it was much too complicated now, and she had promised Boq. "I wasn't feeling well. How was Boq?"

Galinda looked at Elphaba suspiciously, twisting her curls around her fingers and wondering if she should press her obviously distressed roommate. "He didn't say much. But he did say something about talking to you, wondered if you could come by Briscoe Hall in half an hour."

"Oh," Elphaba said, slightly surprised. "I guess I should do that." Her voice was slightly weaker than usual, less determined and passionate. It felt like she was in some sort of trance and until she figured out exactly how she felt and what she wanted to do, she wouldn't be quite herself. She turned and looked at Galinda.

"Something's wrong, Elphaba. Please don't lie to me."

Elphaba nodded. "You're right. But I don't want to talk about it right now, Galinda."

"It's about Fiyero, isn't it?"

The look in Elphaba's eyes gave it away.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"I am. Well, I do want to talk about it, but… it's just complicated."

Galinda seemed taken aback, as if the idea of Elphaba actually wanting to talk to her about something, much less about boys, completely stunned her. "I understand," she said quietly. "Maybe another time?"

"We'll see," Elphaba said. "It'll depend."

Twenty minutes later, Elphaba left her room and ventured across the now darkening campus to Briscoe Hall. She climbed up the stairs to the second floor and rapped on Boq's door.

"Elphie," he smiled.

"What is going on, Boq?" Elphaba asked before she would step inside.

And at just that moment, Fiyero passed through the hallway. He looked at Elphaba and she turned away. But Boq noticed. "We need to talk again. Come in."

Elphaba stepped inside the room. It was clear which side was Crope's and which side was Boq's. Crope's side was immaculate and bright and Boq's was messy and dark. As she watched Fiyero walk the rest of the way down the hall, she closed the door slowly. "We do need to talk…"

"It is your problem, now, isn't it?"

"How the hell would you know?"

"I saw that just now. Something is up. It's not just me."

Elphaba sighed, but she didn't argue.

"I was upset after yesterday. I talked to Fiyero, but I didn't tell him what was going on."

"I know – he mentioned it to me."

"He said I couldn't complain if I didn't at least try. And obviously, I couldn't tell him that part."

"I know, Boq."

"But I want to at least try, if even just to get rejected."

"We went over this, Boq, it's just not possible."

Boq sat down in his chair and looked and Elphaba. "But I have an idea…"


	8. Chapter 8: An Actually GOOD Idea

**Author's Note: Just so everyone knows, I never listen to music while I am writing. I thought I'd try to, see if it does anything. Wondering exactly how Lady Gaga is going to affect my writing…Also, I'm still waiting to see some reviews.  
><strong>

**Chapter 8: An Actually Good Idea**

Elphaba was not amused. She was not even hopeful. Whatever idea Boq had was probably as skewed as the last idea. But she was in no position to make fun of him. "What is it this time?"

"Well, you know either of our families would pull us out of Shiz if we told them that we wanted out of the arranged marriage."

"We've been through this conversation before."

"What if we both do our own thing for these years and if either one of us does really get serious about someone else, we wait until graduation to tell our parents that we aren't doing it? Both of us. Together. Your father can't hate you as much if we both went against this. And my parents probably wouldn't disown me. And you realize your father can't really completely disown you, anyway, as you're to be Eminent Thropp, right?"

For a moment, Elphaba opened her mouth to tell Boq that he was wrong, but she was having trouble finding a problem. "I don't know, Boq…" and then Elphaba realized something. "Nessa is coming here next year. If she found either of us dating someone else… she'd report back. You know she would."

He nodded. "Then we'll have to be secretive."  
>"Ha! If Galinda ever did go out with you, I'm sure she wouldn't shut up about it, Boq."<p>

"With any luck, Nessa will be too busy praying or studying to really hang out with us, anyway, and she won't even figure it out."

"I don't know if I'm willing to risk that, Boq."

"Fine. If she finds out that I'm dating someone, I'll say it was my fault and you couldn't stop me. And if she finds out that you are and it seems like you did the best to hide it, I'll take the blame, too. But you can't just go and let her figure it out just to lay the blame on me, Elphaba, or it's your problem."

"Even if we weren't supposed to be married, I wouldn't tell Nessa if I was dating someone." Elphaba still couldn't understand the words coming out of her mouth. Suddenly she was talking about dating as if it were an actual possibility. What the hell had gotten into her?

"This means we will have to disclose to other the person exactly what the situation is, and they would have to be okay with it."

"I think I could live with that. But this is insane… if we get caught… if we get in trouble…"

"Is it worth it, Elphaba?"

She took a sideways look at the doorway into the hall, thinking about Fiyero. "It might be."

"Do we have a plan, then?"

"I… Boq, I can't go back to Fiyero now and tell him that it's actually possible. Not after the conversation we had earlier."

"You told Fiyero?"

"He… he tried to tell me his feelings and I kept telling him it wasn't possible. But you know him; he doesn't exactly leave things alone. I had to tell him."

"What did he say?"

"That's between the two of us, Boq."

"The point is, Elphaba, you're free. Or at least, there's a possibility. Fiyero or not."

"I guess. We have a plan."

Boq moved to hug Elphaba. She didn't hug him back, but she didn't shove him away, just stood stiffly for a moment. He smiled happily. "I'm not going to just walk up to Miss Galinda and ask her for a date, but I'm not going to be as afraid to talk to her anymore. Although, should it ever get that far, I don't know how I'd explain it to her."

"I could. I could explain it to her tonight."

"You'd do that for me, Elphie?"

She figured he didn't realize that telling Galinda was really something she wanted to do so she could get the whole thing off her chest. "I would. I better get back, though. I really didn't get much studying done so far today."

"Thanks, Elphaba," Boq said genuinely. "I hope this works."  
>"Me, too." Elphaba was down the stairs so quickly that she didn't see Boq leave his room and head down the hall in the same direction that Fiyero had.<p>

When she got back in the room, Galinda was sitting quietly at her desk, mumbling spells and doing hand gestures. She tried to smile reassuringly at Elphaba when she entered the room. "Are you okay?"

"Better, I think."

"That's good! I'm glad Boq could cheer you up."

"Not exactly. Galinda, I need to talk to you about this."

"You can tell me anything, Elphaba!"

"Let me start from the beginning. And please don't interrupt me," Elphaba looked at Galinda pointedly. "Several days before we were to leave for Shiz, Boq's parents and my father sat us down. They told us that when we were little, they had arranged for us to be married, and they planned for that to take place after we graduated from Shiz. While Boq and I are friends, neither of us was really happy about it. When we got here, we agreed not to tell anyone about it." Elphaba paused, seeing that Galinda really wanted to talk. "Okay, go ahead, say something."

"How could you not tell me?"

"Did I not just say that we agreed not to tell anyone?" Elphaba sighed. "Anyway, Boq started to like you, as I'm sure you've figured out by now. But there was nothing he could do. If we rejected the arranged marriage, our parents would pull us out of Shiz. And then there was Fiyero…"  
>"I knew it!" Galinda exclaimed.<p>

"Well, this afternoon, he told me how he felt. And you were right, as much as I hate to say that. So I told him Boq and my secret. He has an arranged marriage, too, technically, although he seems to think he can get out of it. He kept trying to suggest ways we could get out of it, but none of them were good enough. He suggested we just date anyway, and if we do end up having to be forced apart, at least we'd have something once."

"That's so sweet!"

"That's not how my brain works. So I refused. He said he'd keep thinking, but I told him to leave. And that's when you came back and told me to meet with Boq. And, believe it or not, Boq was actually the one who had the best idea. We have decided to do what we want for the rest of Shiz. Should either of us become serious with someone, we tell our parents that we refuse, together, upon graduation. But we have to keep that part secret. My sister is coming next year and if she gets any idea that things aren't going as they are supposed to, she'll be sure to inform my father and Boq's parents. But we will tell them, just later. Telling them together so that they can't blame just one of us may lessen the blow. And then they can't pull us out of Shiz. Plus, my father can't completely hate me as I have to be Eminent Thropp…"

"Eminent Thropp? Really?"

"Yes. I wanted to tell you all of this after what happened with Fiyero today, but it wouldn't be fair to Boq. But Boq said it was okay to tell you."

"Have you told Fiyero?"

"Galinda, I already told him it wasn't happening. I can't just walk over there and tell him I take it back."

"Why not?"

"I'd feel like an idiot."

"Oh, Elphie, you're crazy." Galinda moved to sit beside her roommate, but then someone knocked at the door. "It's getting late, and we've certainly had plenty of excitement. It's going to be after visiting hours soon." She moved to open the door.

Fiyero stood there. "Hi, Galinda."

"I'm guessing you're here for Elphaba."

Fiyero nodded.

"I'll just… I'll go talk to Shen-Shen and Pfanee downstairs…" Galinda winked at Elphaba and hurried out the door.

Elphaba still sat on her bed, staring at Fiyero. "What is it?"

"Boq came to see me a few minutes ago."

"He WHAT?"

Fiyero closed the door behind him and sat beside her. "He talked to me about your conversation."

"I didn't ask him to do that!"

Fiyero shrugged. "So what is going to happen now?"

"I really don't know." She looked at him anxiously.

"I think, Elphaba, that we should try this. It doesn't have to be anything serious if it doesn't work right. But we have an opportunity here."

"What about your arranged marriage?"

"I'll ask my parents about the whole thing subtly. Well, as subtly as I can in a letter."

"Aren't you going home for the winter holidays?"

"The Vinkus is pretty far. My parents have already sent my gifts. I could make it and maybe spend a week there, but they want me to spend more time here getting used to things."

"I'm not going home, either."

Fiyero's eyes got a little brighter. "I'll have to think of a better excuse than studying to come see you, then. If you'll let me."

Elphaba closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "I think you're right. And I want to at least see. But I don't know what I'm doing. I've never been in a relationship. I'm probably not what you'd expect. I'm not going to go soft for you."

"I wouldn't want you to. So… we try to date, at least once or twice?"

"I guess so."

Fiyero squeezed Elphaba's hand.

"Don't kiss me again," she threatened.  
>Fiyero was not offended. He merely laughed.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9: Future Worries

**Author's Note: Part of this felt a little bit like filler, but I felt like certain things needed to be discussed before these two could really figure out exactly what they're doing and really know how to even exist in this relationship. Plus, I did skip over a few days or a week or so, and that included Galinda quite possibly interrogating Elphaba about the whole Fiyero thing, so I thought I'd just mention that, and mention what is to be expected for both of them.**

**Chapter 9: Future Worries**

Boq, Fiyero and Elphaba were the only people from their group of friends who stayed for winter break. Elphaba was grateful that both boys were there so that they could distract each other from bothering her. Occasionally all three of them would get together, but Elphaba tried to avoid that because it still seemed strange to her. It was quiet on campus, and the snow made it so Elphaba couldn't go out much. At one point she ran out of food in her room and couldn't leave to get more for herself so Fiyero ended up grabbing some fruit and bread products for her. And of course, he insisted on staying.

"What are you reading?" He prodded.

"A book." Elphaba replied, staring at the page in front of her.

"Gee, I didn't know," Fiyero remarked.

She grinned a little. "What is it?"

"Do I need a reason to talk to you?"

"Maybe. Depends on how I'm feeling."

"Do I need an excuse today?"

Elphaba put her book down. "I'll let you off the hook."

"I did actually have something to say, though."

She looked at him intently. "Well, then, go ahead."

"My parents responded to my letter. They seemed to get the gist when I asked about Sarima and when they expected me to get married. My father wrote back that I did not have to marry Sarima, exactly, but that they would appreciate it if they could meet whatever girl so that they can decide if she is acceptable. I am expected to have found someone suitable to marry by a year after graduation or I marry Sarima. They tried to emphasize that she was quite lovely. Personally I do not care."

"Oh. Well that's good, I guess. But, Fiyero, are you sure you wouldn't rather be with someone… like you?"

"That would be boring. I don't want to seclude myself. Sure, I'm getting schooling, but I want to have broader interests than what I knew back home. I want to marry for better reasons. I want to marry someone interesting."

Elphaba laughed. "I guess that makes sense. I certainly can't marry anyone like me. There isn't anyone."

"That makes you all the more appealing."

She blushed. "Are you dating me only because I'm interesting?"

"I like you, Elphaba. You should know that. Would you meet my parents at some point, though?"

"Isn't a little soon to ask that question?" Elphaba teased.

"Perhaps. But I just thought you should know that it's going to have to happen if we continue."

"You realize that will be pretty difficult. This year, I'm alone and my father can think that I'm here and I can hide it if I leave, but next year, my sister and our Nanny will be here. They'll be living down the hall. It'll be pretty obvious if I leave."

"Then over the spring holidays this year."

"That still feels a little soon…"

"We won't even be there for a lot of time, since the journey itself is somewhat long. And if not this spring, then when?"

Elphaba sighed. "I just… I'd like to put it off a little. This is too fast."

"Okay. We'll figure it out when the time comes. Or maybe you'll change your mind. It's up to you. This is definitely not a normal relationship."

"Certainly not. With either of us, could we really expect it to be?"

Fiyero laughed. "Probably not." He plopped onto the bed next to her. "So, really, what were you reading?"

"Well, Dr. Dillamond mentioned that next semester we'd be working on some more complicated stuff, like the difference between Animals and animals. I thought I'd read up on the topic a little. This is the only book I could actually find in the Crage library. It's not giving me much."

"I can take a look in the Three Queens library if you like."

"When you get the chance. Don't worry about it, though. I'm sure we'll be learning plenty."

"Do you have advanced life sciences at the same time as we had life sciences last semester?"

"Yes."

"So do I."

"I didn't know you signed up. We only need one life science credit if we aren't interested in pursuing the subject."

"Well, maybe I'm interested. The truth is, I still haven't made a decision in what I want to pursue."

She nodded. Her legs were folded in a pretzel beneath her long black skirt as she sat across from him. "What else are you looking into next semester?"

"Economics and politics along with some business. It might come in handy when I finally have to take the throne. I don't know that my father ever got a lot of schooling, but maybe I could improve things a little. We aren't necessarily uncivilized, but I would like to make it a little more modern."

"I'm taking politics as well. I'm curious about the way things work in the city and the history of our government."

"I can't remember what day I have it, so I don't know offhand if we'll be in the same class."

"I think there was only one section this semester, so I'm pretty sure we will be."

"Well, that makes two excuses I have to study with you."

"At some point Galinda is going to get irritated with you here so much."

"I won't be here too much." Fiyero paused. "Does she know? About us? About the situation?"

"Yes. And she's keeping her mouth shut. Well, I hope she is."

"And what do we do about the rest of the group?"

"We don't tell them. We can't. There's way too much risk when more people know. I cannot afford for my sister to find out when she arrives next fall."

Fiyero bit his lip. "I don't like that we have to hide this, but I do understand. It'll just be harder to see each other."

"As you said, we'll be studying plenty."

"True. And Galinda could maybe cover for us."

"Cover for us? Exactly what are we going to need her to cover for?"

"I don't know…"

"I'm not exactly going to spend the night with you, Fiyero. She won't really need to lie."

"I know, I know. But if we ever want to go out for a few hours _alone_…"

"Then I'll just lie and say I'm going to hide myself somewhere and study. Galinda honestly doesn't need to be more involved than she is. And if we go out, we could be seen."

Fiyero looked a little exasperated. "Then what are we supposed to do?"

"We can spend time in here."

"With Galinda around and your sister down the hall?"

"What are you expecting to happen, Fiyero?" Elphaba folded her hands across her chest.

"Nothing. But if we can't even really talk about anything serious, how are we supposed to get anywhere with this relationship?"

"I don't know! I told you this was going to be difficult, Fiyero."

"We could spend time in my room."

Elphaba looked down for a moment.

"Are you seriously afraid of spending time alone in my room? We're completely alone in your room now!"

Elphaba looked back up at him. "You're right. Don't you have a roommate?"

"No. I have a smaller room on the corner of Briscoe Hall. My family had to pay a little more for it, and it's actually kind of lonely, but it can be nice."

"Oh."

"Elphaba, does being Eminent Thropp mean you have to stay in Munchkinland?"

She glanced at him. "I'm not really sure. I think so."

"You know I have to stay in the Vinkus."

"I do. And I know that we have no clue where we're going with this relationship yet, Fiyero. We can talk about it more later on. Stop worrying about things."

Fiyero took Elphaba's hand. "I just want this to work. I really care about you."

Elphaba's hand felt warmer than the rest of her limbs and she felt her face darken when he looked into her eyes. "I… I know. I just don't know about me, Fiyero. I don't know if I'm even right for this kind of thing."

"You were right enough for me to want to try."

Elphaba smiled softly and squeezed his hand. "I know, and I like trying this, too."

"Good." Fiyero moved closer to Elphaba and put a hand over her shoulder and on her back. "I think you're worry just as much as I am, just not about the same things. You're so worried this won't even get anywhere that you can't even think about the long run."

"I told you, I just don't know about me, Fiyero. How do you know I'm even cut out for this?"

"I just do. Please trust me. If you'll just stop thinking the worst, we'll be just fine."

"Well you stop scaring me about the future, and maybe I'll be able to calm down."

"Does the future scare you that much?"

"It's not you. It's thinking about what I'll have to tell my father. It's thinking about possibly being unwelcome in my father's home. It's thinking about getting caught."

Fiyero traced a finger along her cheek to her chin. "We both need to stop. Let's just think about now and the next few weeks or months, okay?"

"I like that idea. We can worry about everything else later."

"I just hope there isn't much to worry about…"


	10. Chapter 10: Catastrophe

**Author's Note: I really haven't used Dr. Dillamond as a character much in the stories, and I certainly haven't used one of the most important events that happens while Elphaba is at Shiz. I've been trying to figure out how to incorporate this event into "Forced Love" as well. I'm trying to keep with the timeline a little more here (aside from the fact that I brought Fiyero in early, for obvious reasons!). I do rush along a little bit, again, because I really feel like the next vital thing in Elphaba's life, not to mention her relationship with Fiyero, is this.**

**Chapter 10: Catastrophe **

Outings with their group were very strange given that only Boq and Galinda knew what was going on between Fiyero and Elphaba. As the spring term started up, Elphaba tended to avoid the larger group outings. The rain gave her somewhat of an excuse a lot of the time, anyway, and when she became Dr. Dillamond's lab assistant, she had another excuse not to come. In researching the genetics of Animals, Elphaba became a little obsessive about the issue of Animal rights. Fiyero was mildly interested, but did not share her passion, though he tried hard to support it. Things were moving along relatively calmly, until something happened to Dr. Dillamond.

Elphaba showed up at Fiyero's room one afternoon, distraught. Her eyes were wide and she was shaking her head like mad, strands of long black hair straying from her braid.

"Elphaba, what's wrong?" Fiyero pulled her inside. She rarely showed up in his room unannounced.

"Dr. Dillamond… he's dead."

"_What?_"

"I went to his lab, he sent for me, said it was urgent. Lately he's been very absorbed in his research. We felt like he was so close to finding a genetic link between Animals and humans… I think he was murdered. Morrible is denying it, but I know it!"

"Okay, slow down, Elphaba," he sat her down on the bed. "You went to his lab… did you _find_ his body?"

"No, no. People were just starting to gather. Morrible made some announcement about how it was an accident. But you _know_ she hated him. Remember that little party she had last month? She basically tore the idea of Animal rights to pieces!"

"Calm down." Fiyero took both of her hands and brushed the stray hair from her braid away from her face. "Are you okay?"

"Why does it matter? There's a bigger issue here. Dr. Dillamond was murdered."

"Elphaba…"

"What? Fiyero, this is serious. What am I supposed to do now?"

"There is nothing you can do. Not now." Fiyero pulled her into his arms.

She resisted. "No, there has to be something. This is wrong. We can't let her get away with it."

"Let who get away with it?"

"Morrible."

"I doubt Morrible murdered Dr. Dillamond, Elphaba. She may have been against Animal rights, but what on earth makes you think that she did it?"

"Oh, I don't think she did it with her bare hands. She wouldn't stoop so low. But when I got there, I saw that damn Tik-Tok thing sneaking around behind her."

Fiyero was clearly not sure of what to think. "I don't know what to tell you, Elphie. I wasn't there. I don't know exactly what you saw."

She didn't even noticed that he'd called her "Elphie" and just shook her head. She took a deep breath and looked down for a moment at her hands. When she looked back up, there was a small tear in the corner of her eye. She leaned into him then, and allowed him to hold her. "This is… this is crazy."

"I know. Give yourself a minute to breathe and to think. Sit here with me for a while, okay?"

"But we have class this afternoon… or… oh…" They would've had life sciences that afternoon. Elphaba could assume that class would not be happening.

Fiyero tightened his arms around her and lifted her chin. He kissed her lightly on the lips. "Shh. What you're forgetting here is how you are feeling."

"It doesn't matter."

"It does to me. Are you okay?"

"I don't know," she replied honestly. "I can't believe this happened, Fiyero."

"I know."

"Maybe we should go over there and see if everyone's gone. Maybe we can sneak around, look for evidence."

"I'm sure Morrible has it blocked off. And I don't think that's a wise idea right now, anyway."

Elphaba buried her face in his neck for a moment, closing her eyes. She wanted for a moment to block out everything, but she knew she couldn't. "Sweet Oz, I wish it wasn't so crazy around here."

"You've been here too long. We both have. There's a reason for the holiday breaks, and we both stayed here this winter."

"I guess. But it wasn't like we had school work or even a lot of people around."

"But it's this place. It in itself can stress you, especially you. You need to think, and you need to do that away from here so you can think clearly. Come home with me for the spring holidays."

"I hardly think that this is the time to ask that!"

"I disagree. You need a break. You just said it's too crazy here."

"And meeting your family isn't going to stress me?"

"I didn't think it would," Fiyero said, surprised. "I never thought meeting anyone would really stress you out. I didn't think you'd care what they thought."

"Really? What do you think is the likelihood of your parents taking one look at this ugly green abomination and say that they don't approve at all? You don't think that would bother me?"

"First of all, you are not ugly - "

"Maybe not to you," she interrupted, "but…"

He cut her off. "Elphaba, my parents have only been out of the Vinkus a few times in their lives to visit the city. I don't think they'll even realize that green isn't a common skin color. It looks so normal on you, even lovely. And yes, I'm a little surprised, not that it would upset you, but that you've already been worrying about it."

"I want this to work just as much as you do, Fiyero. But my skin has always been an obstacle, and of course it would be an issue here."

"But it won't be. Wouldn't it be nice to be somewhere where people don't care about that at all? Where people aren't judging that, like the people here do?"

"The people here certainly aren't great," Elphaba laughed when Fiyero looked offended, "not you, silly."

"Look, I know with what's just happened, you want to stay here, maybe investigate. But I really don't think that's a great idea. You'll be upset and alone. You might try to do something that might get you into trouble with Morrible and, if you are right, she certainly doesn't take punishment lightly. Elphaba, there's no Morrible in the Vinkus. There's no Animal discrimination. It's just quiet."

Elphaba sighed. "I don't know. Are we really that serious?"

"I'm not asking you out there just to meet my parents. I'm asking you so that we can get away from this for a little, spend time together without all the hiding and the school work and the excuses and the people."

Elphaba smiled at him. "If you really think it's a good idea…"

"You know I do."

"Okay. It can't hurt to go. But promise me you'll let me have my alone time?"

"Of course."

The two sat together for an hour or two more. Little was said – though once or twice Elphaba almost started to rant. He had an arm around her and she leaned on his shoulder, blinking a tear or two out of her eyes. After a while, Elphaba thought she might need to go back to her room for a while and do a little more thinking.

"Elphie!" Galinda jumped up as Elphaba entered the room. "I heard about Dr. Dillamond. Are you okay?"

"Not really," Elphaba replied honestly. "But… I still haven't figured out exactly what I feel and what I want to think."

Galinda hugged Elphaba, who was a little shocked but accepted without protest. "Where have you been?"

"Fiyero's."

Galinda nodded. "I'm glad you were with someone who cares instead of wandering about the campus alone."

"Galinda, I think Dr. Dillamond was murdered," Elphaba blurted.

"Madame Morrible said it was an accident…?"

Elphaba worried how Galinda would react, so she wording things carefully. "Maybe she didn't want to scare anyone. But I was there right as they found him. I just don't think it was an accident. I worked in that lab with him, Galinda. He would not have been careless."

"I'm sorry, Elphie. But are you sure you aren't just saying that because you don't want to believe that it was his fault?"

"Galinda! No! I know in my heart he was murdered."

"Okay," Galinda said softly. "Why?"

"The whole Animals and humans thing."

"And who would've done that _here_?"

"I… I'm still working on that," Elphaba said evasively. She needed more time to know whether or not telling Galinda her suspicions was a good idea. Galinda had classes with Morrible and seemed to very much enjoy her classes. She wouldn't say that Galinda liked the woman, necessarily, but she wasn't sure. She'd need to do a little more phishing to find out, but not now. "I don't really want to talk or think about it right now. Fiyero calmed me down a little and I'd like to stay that way."

"That's fine. How is Fiyero?"

"He's good. He's insisting on dragging me home with him for the spring holidays."

"Oooh, romantic!"

"Not really. I should take one holiday this year before I go home for the summer."

"I agree! We all need a long break!"


	11. Chapter 11: Peace in the Emptiness

**AN: It's taken a very long time for me to update. I apologize. It might be a little bit. But I'm not abandoning this the way I have. I have to finish school in the next two and a half weeks and pack. Plus my puppy has some behavioral issues I'm working on. But this story has plans, so don't worry!**

**Chapter 11: Peace in the Emptiness**

Very few trains ran to the Vinkus, but they were lucky enough that one was leaving the night that the spring holidays began. They each had a small compartment next to one another. Elphaba spent a lot of the train ride reading and going over the research notes she had from her time with Dr. Dillamond.

"You've been staring at those notes for three hours, Elphaba." Fiyero stepped into her compartment.

"Thanks for knocking," she chided.

"You left the door open."

"Good point."

"But really, you've been sitting like that for a while and you don't seem to have gotten anywhere."

"I've just been thinking. I want to continue what Dr. Dillamond started. Obviously I can't tell anyone and I won't have the resources he did, but if I can prove what he was on the verge of proving, maybe at least he won't have died for nothing."

"If anyone finds out, Elphaba, you could end up like he did."

"So I'll make sure no one will find out! I can't leave this research to disappear. He was so close. There is no reason someone else shouldn't continue it. And no one else will, you know that."

Fiyero sighed, looking a little concerned. "I can't stop you. But please be careful."

"I know how to take care of myself, Fiyero."

He grabbed her hand. "You aren't going to get anywhere with this on a train with no other books or tools, though. Let's go to the dining car and grab some food."

She put her notebook down. "You just have to distract me all the time, don't you?"

"If I can. Elphaba, I just worry about this whole thing. If what you suspect is true, then what you want to do is not safe."

"I have no other choice," she let him walk her to the dining car.

"You _think_ you have no other choice."

"How can you expect me to just let it be?"

"I don't. I just worry it won't go well."

"I know how to be careful, I told you that already."

"You did. I understand that you care about this. Dr. Dillamond was your friend, your mentor. It only makes sense that you'd want to finish his work. But you need to think about something. If something happens to you or to his research, then there's no one left to finish it. Then what happens?"

Elphaba nodded. "You're right."

"And I was hoping that maybe we could spend a little time without you doing some sort of schoolwork…"

She laughed. "I like schoolwork."

"You like other things. You like reading even if it isn't schoolwork. And you like to be outside when you know it won't rain for a while."

"And I like you," she grinned.

"I would hope so!" Fiyero put a hand on her shoulder. "We're almost there, Elphie."

She looked out the window. It looked barren – not so much like a desert, it wasn't hot and there was no sand. But the soil looked as though any seed that touched it would shatter and turn to dust. A few trees were scattered here and there, and they were somewhat green. It was desolate, but in an almost peaceful way. "It seems so… empty." Elphaba did not see a human, Animal or animal anywhere in sight.

"It's not so bad. I think you would like it, considering how little you like to socialize," he teased.  
>"I just like my alone time," she said, a little defensive.<p>

"I know. And I promise to let you have that whenever you need it. Just tell me and I'll go somewhere else."

"Thank you for respecting that. Galinda certainly doesn't get it!"

Fiyero thought for a moment. "Have you told her?"

"About what?"

"About what you think happened."

Elphaba bit her lip. "Not yet. I told her I thought Dr. Dillamond was murdered, but I didn't tell her by whom. Galinda has a sorcery class with Morrible. I've never heard her say anything good about her, but I've also never heard her say anything bad."

"Maybe you shouldn't tell her. And maybe you shouldn't tell her that you're continuing his research, either."

Elphaba eyed him. "Why?"

"I don't know. I just think you should be very discreet about all this."

"I don't think that Galinda is going to tell people. And how do I hide that from her? She lives with me!" Elphaba shook her head at him.

"Work in my room. Or when she's not there."

"Why are you so paranoid about Galinda? She's my friend. She's _our _friend."

"I'm not paranoid about her. I'm… concerned… not just about her, but about everyone."

"Now you're being overprotective. This is my life. I choose to tell who I want! You think I'm not a good judge of character, Fiyero? If I'm not, then what does it say that I'm dating _you_?"

"Low blow," he muttered. After a deep breath, he continued, "I'm not trying to say that. And I'm sorry if I'm too concerned. It's just that, out here, where I'm from, Elphaba, this sort of thing didn't happen… at least not that I know of. I don't really know how to react to this. This level of secrecy and corruption, if that is what it is, just seems unsettling for me."

She softened. "It wasn't so innocent in Munchkinland, but it wasn't nearly as perfect as the Vinkus sounds. People weren't being killed, really."

Fiyero looked into her brown eyes, so brown they were almost black. Her lips were parted slightly and a strand of her dark hair had fallen in front of them. She wiped it away and looked back at him self consciously.

"What are you looking at?"

He smiled to himself. "Would you kill me if I said I was just admiring you?"

"I might. I guess you'll have to say it and find out."

"I think I don't have to say anymore."

Elphaba's cheeks darkened slightly. "We'll just see what your parents think."

The train began to slow. "We will be fine. If you assume they aren't going to like you, then it'll be a problem."

They returned to their compartments and she threw her notebooks and pencils into her bag and followed Fiyero to the train doors. There was only one other person disembarking at that point, an oily looking Gillikin man.

"Salesman," Fiyero whispered to Elphaba. "We get them occasionally. Trying to sell more 'modern' trinkets to us uncivilized folk."

Elphaba nodded and squeezed his hand as the doors opened. There was a small carriage waiting to take them to the castle – Kiamo Ko, it was called. She was relatively silent for the short ride.

Fiyero reached for her hand as they exited the carriage, something she usually wouldn't let him do in public. But she let him take it, almost as if she needed him to. His parents were there to greet them.

They were, in fact, taken aback by Elphaba's skin, but only for a moment. His father shook Elphaba's hand cordially and his mother did the same. He and Elphaba were then invited into the living room to sit and enjoy some tea. Elphaba, a little wide-eyed, nodded politely.

Fiyero's father was tall, several inches taller than Fiyero. He was also a little darker, too. The markings on his skin were violet triangles. Elphaba couldn't help but think that they weren't nearly as beautiful as Fiyero's. His mother was short, shorter than Elphaba. Her skin tone was more the chocolate ochre of her son's. And her markings were green, a green close to Elphaba's own skin tone, and they were of stars. Her eyes were green, as well, an emerald. They sparkled with warmth for her son, though Fiyero's father stood a little stiffer and he looked at his son in more of the way that one might regard a colleague.

Fiyero's mother smiled sweetly. "You must be, um, El-Fae-Bae?"

"It's pronounced Elphaba, Mom." Fiyero corrected.

"Please excuse me, it was hard to tell from his letters he has dreadful handwriting."

Elphaba relaxed ever so slightly. "Oh, I know! I've seen the notes he takes in class."

Fiyero's mother smiled and looked at Fiyero. "How do your professors read your homework and papers?"

Fiyero flushed. "Mom…"

"They're used to that. Although once our politics professor asked him to his office so Fiyero could read his paper out loud to make it more understandable." Elphaba grinned.

His mother laughed. "That does not surprise me! I certainly hope you've never missed a class and had to borrow his notes."

"I don't think Elphaba's ever missed a class." Fiyero was smiling as he watched Elphaba, seeing that she was comfortable.

"You're a studious young lady," his father said, "I believe he mentioned that in his letters."

"If we could read them!" His mother exclaimed and both she and Elphaba laughed.

"I like school," Elphaba shrugged.

"Fiyero did say you are even assisting one of your professors in his research…"

"_Was_ assisting," Elphaba said softly. "He…"

Fiyero tightened his grip on her hand. "He left the school. He and the headmistress didn't get along.

Elphaba thought that scaring Fiyero's parents by telling them there had been a murder on campus might be unnecessary at that moment, so she understood why he had lied. "Something like that…"


	12. Chapter 12: Ancient Power

**AN: So this chapter went in a completely different direction than I expected it to. I really should write an outline planning out a story. It helped me a lot when I wrote "From Elphaba to Fae," and it would help me know where I'm going instead of just fading off and not finishing. I do have two more things I know are going to happen that will put a strain on their relationship/secret in the next year or two, if not more things, but I don't know where this will end. I always have trouble ending my stories and leaving them be. But I guess I should write an outline, as much as I hate that. I should probably do that for "Forced Love," too, since I definitely want to work with that one some more. But it's so much more fun just to WRITE this stuff. Outlines are not nearly as fun. But I have to have at least a vague idea, even if it's not chapter-to-chapter. I need to know what's going to happen between here and the end, and how it's going to end, when the story stops. Okay, I'm babbling. I actually really enjoyed where this chapter took me, which is why I'm not sure about writing an outline. I hadn't meant for this, and I think it adds a lot to the story. Argh, I'm so torn. Also note that I foreshadow that there will be more trouble. After all, if there wasn't more trouble, this story would be finished! And they can't get away with the whole arranged marriage dodging thing so easily. Fiyero's parents might be lenient (maybe I need to write a story where they AREN'T, since I always let them off the hook with that), but Elphaba's family and friends? They're not going to make it easy. **

**Chapter 12: Ancient Power**

Elphaba sat on her bed in the guest room and opened her bag, taking the little green bottle out and placing it in a drawer in the bedside table. She glanced around the room. The walls were grey stone brick and the furniture was all carefully handcrafted wood. Outside the window was the same dark brown soil she'd observed on the way in on the train, but there were more trees, leaves so dark green they were almost black. Small wooden or stone buildings were scattered around the little castle. It was beautiful in a strange, darker sort of way, much like the people.

"Hey," Fiyero poked his head in the door. "We have a couple rooms you didn't see. Come with me. My mom walked you straight upstairs and you missed a bit of the downstairs."

She nodded and stood up, straightening out her plain black velvet dress. "Okay."

He took her hand and led her down the stairs. She pulled it away. "Elphaba?"

"I just… this is weird," she shrugged. "Sorry. I mean, your parents are very kind, but I just keep thinking that my father…"

Fiyero sighed. "I understand." They reached the bottom of the stairs.

"I just feel like this is too easy. There is no way we're not going to have more trouble."

"More trouble than Dr. Dillamond getting murdered?"

"That isn't even directly our trouble, Fiyero."

"I feel like it affects us more than I care to think about." Fiyero led her into a small room with two cribs, covered in dust. "This is the nursery. Obviously it hasn't been used for a while – not since my younger siblings were babies."

The stone brick walls were painted lilac and featured small figures of rabbits and puppies and cats outlined in white. There were windows on two walls and a skylight up above. Despite the dust, the room was very bright. "It's really… cutesy."

He laughed. "I guess so. Here, come on," he pulled her into yet another room, also dusty. "This has a bunch of stuff no one really uses anymore. Storage, I guess."

Elphaba glanced around at the boxes and crates, most lying open but untouched. She found herself drawn towards one. Inside she found several yellowed old books, some with pages tattered beyond recognition. She reached inside and pulled out a book with gilt lining along the covers and edges of the pages.

Fiyero stood behind her. "I haven't seen that before. It must be in some strange language." He squinted at the cover. "I certainly have no idea what it's called."

She opened the book carefully and flipped through the pages. "You can't read it?" Elphaba glanced at him over her shoulder.

"You can? I didn't know you knew any other languages…"

"Fiyero, I don't."

He looked at her, confused. "Then how…?"

"I don't know, Fiyero."

"What does it say?"

"I'm not exactly sure what each word means, but I know what they sound like. It seems to me like this is some sort of spell… something about fire… I'm not sure."

"Spell?"

Elphaba flipped the pages cautiously, careful not to mar any of the words. "What the hell does this mean, Fiyero? Why can I read this?"

Fiyero shook his head, his dark hair falling against his forehead. "I have no idea, Elphaba." He smiled. "But aren't I always telling you that you're special?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Do you think I'm the only one? Can your parents read it?"

"Why don't we ask them?" Fiyero took the book from her gingerly and walked with her down the hallways to the main room where his mother sat. "Hey, Mom, have you seen this before?" He held up the book.

His mother shook her head. "No. Where did you find it?"

"The storage room."

"Why were you guys in there?" His mother raised her eyebrows suspiciously.

"I was showing Elphaba around. This was at the top of one of the boxes and she was curious about it."

"Well, how would I know anything about it when it's clearly in a completely different language? I can tell by the title on the cover."

"The Grimmerie," Elphaba murmured softly.

"What?" Fiyero turned to her.

"That's what the cover says." She whispered.

"Do you think Dad would know anything about it?" Fiyero asked, looking back at his mother.

"He's in the study. You can go ask him, but I doubt it. Remember to knock."

Fiyero nodded and escorted Elphaba back down the hall they'd come from. "Another room you haven't seen. My father's study. I wasn't really going to show you, since even I don't go in there a lot, although I have been in there more as of late since he's been showing me a lot of what I'm going to expect when I become king." They entered a room past the storage room and Fiyero knocked raptly on the door.

"Come in, Fiyero," his father called.

"How did you know it was me?" Fiyero asked as he opened the door.

"Your mother certainly doesn't knock that loudly, and your siblings barely remember to knock."

Elphaba shuffled into the room behind Fiyero, who put the book on his father's desk. "Do you know anything about this book, Dad?"

Fiyero's father picked up a pair of bifocals and examined the book, running his hands along the cover. He opened the book and flipped through the pages. "Where in hell did you find this thing?"

"The storage room. Elphaba was curious about the palace and I was just showing her around."

"There's stuff in there that's been in there since long before I was king, son. Long before your grandfather was, either. And I certainly don't recognize this. I wonder if this language is of the ancients…"

"The ancients, sir?" Elphaba asked.

"There are myths that long before the Arjiki settled here, there were others. They practiced sorcery in ways that even the professionals in the city now can't even compare to. No one knows what happened to them, if they existed at all."

Fiyero glanced at Elphaba. "Wow."

"As interesting as that might be, this book has no use for me if I cannot understand it. You two are in college; why don't you bring it back with you? Maybe you can find someone who can help understand what it is."

"I think I already have," Fiyero murmured.

"What, son?"

"I think I have an idea of who to talk to," Fiyero corrected himself and practically dragged Elphaba out of the room, shutting the door behind them. "Elphaba…"

"What?"

"This is… amazing. I don't know how you can read this, but if it really is what my father thinks it is… you could possibly… think of what power you might have!"

Elphaba stepped away from him. "I don't know. Sorcery is complicated and I know that it takes an intelligent person, but it's never something I've considered. It's not really science, nor is it rational."

"But Elphaba, don't you see how amazing this is? Think of the things you could do! Even the Wizard isn't as powerful as the ancients were. I bet he couldn't read this if he tried."

That made Elphaba pause for a moment. She had, as she had told Fiyero, dismissed sorcery. It seemed almost fickle, especially in the ways it was used nowadays. Sorcery was only used for petty things, like enhancing color or lighting a room. But the spells in this book, The Grimmerie, were talking about creating fire out of thin air, causing things to fly, forcing lightning strikes from above. That was more than just a petty art; it was real, and perhaps even useful. What if the things in this book could make her more important than she ever could be as Eminent Thropp? What if it meant that she could change Oz? Even if this book didn't do something that extreme, maybe some spell inside could help with her research. "I… why me? What does this have to do with me?"

"I don't know. But it makes me think… you were meant to come here, Elphaba. You were meant to find this book and decipher what it says. This book was meant for you."

Elphaba held the book in her hands, unsure of whether or not she wanted to treasure it or burn it. It felt like almost too much power. "Just because I can sort of read it doesn't mean I can actually… well, use the spells…"

Fiyero put a hand over hers on the book. "You should try."

"These spells could be dangerous."

"Come," he grabbed her and dragged her even further down the hall to a large stone door. He opened it and they were outside in what she had to assume was the back of the castle.

"I'll stand behind you. You can't hurt anything out here but maybe a tree."

Elphaba looked reluctant. "This is crazy."

"Just try, Elphaba!"

She sighed and flipped through the pages. A spell stood out to her. It said something about moving an object directly in the user's line of sight. That couldn't do too much if she focused on something small, could it? Plus, it probably wouldn't even work. She chose a rock half the size of her head about fifty feet away from her. Quietly, she began to chant words that sounded foreign even to her. Her head was reeling, as though she herself were engulfed in the spell as well. But she was standing flat on the ground. And then, slowly, the rock rose from the ground. At first, Elphaba was so shocked that she simply stared at it hovering in midair. Then she slowly looked towards her left, towards a tree that stood perhaps thirty feet tall. The rock followed her gaze and then hung above the tree. Elphaba closed her eyes. The rock came crashing through the branches of the tree and hit the ground at its roots.

Fiyero was speechless for a moment, but then he realized Elphaba seemed unstable on her feet and put a hand behind her back to steady her. "Are you okay?"

Elphaba was breathing heavily, panting as though she herself had carried the rock halfway across the yard, climbed the tree and dropped it there. "I think so."

"We definitely have to bring this book back to Shiz with us."

Elphaba turned towards him, wide-eyed. "Fiyero, wait. Promise me that you won't tell anyone about this. Promise."

"But Elphaba, this is fantastic! Why shouldn't we tell?"

"Because it's dangerous, Fiyero. And I don't want everyone poking and prodding at me as though they're trying to figure out what it is that's so special. Please. I don't even want to talk about this again. Not for a little while."

Fiyero looked at Elphaba, confused. But he could see how disturbed she was, and he nodded. "Okay. We'll leave this for another time. But you take the book, okay?"

Elphaba took the book from him. When she returned to her room, she put it into the same drawer as her little green bottle, staring at both of them for a while, wondering what in Oz either of them meant.


	13. Chapter 13: Summer's Start

**Chapter 13: Summer's Start**

Elphaba had not spoken to Fiyero about the book again when summer came around. She hadn't talked about Dr. Dillamond's research, either. But she spent much of her time studying one or the other. Once or twice Elphaba had snuck into the science building and stolen a concoction or a plant or even one of the books that were locked in the reserved room. There was a spell in The Grimmerie that involved locks. She felt guilty using it to steal, but she reminded herself that it was for the good of the Animals and did it anyway. She went through The Grimmerie, categorizing the spells she could understand. Some spells were more complicated – she knew a word or two, but wasn't quite sure what kind of power they held. And there were a few that she couldn't read at all. Her curiosity was peaked, but the only person she knew of who might know about sorcery like this was Morrible, and she certainly wasn't planning on showing it to her. She kept the book hidden in her bottom desk drawer with a lock. Galinda once or twice had asked what was so special that she needed to lock it up, but Elphaba refused to answer. Galinda just assumed it was some special gift Fiyero had given her.

The day after finals, everyone was preparing to leave. They had to be out of the dorms the next day if they were not staying for the summer holidays. Elphaba had been packed for several days when Fiyero knocked on her door and asked if she'd come visit him in his dorm.

Fiyero's room had always been colorful, with Vinkun tribal paintings and weavings adorning the walls, but they had all been taken down. It seemed sparse and soulless. She sat down on his unmade bed and looked at him.

"Obviously we can't see each other over the summer. Can I write to you?"

"No." Elphaba replied.

"Why?"

"What do you think my father will say when I start getting letters from the Vinkus? I doubt he'll respect my privacy."

"So we don't hear a word from each other for three months?"

"I'm sorry, Fiyero."

"This is ridiculous."

"I told you when we started this that we had to hide it. This is part of hiding."

Fiyero sat next to her and ran a hand along her cheek. "I'm really going to miss you."

Elphaba shuddered, the feel of his hand warm on her skin. "I'm going to miss you, too. But we'll see each other when the school year starts."

Fiyero nodded, looking into Elphaba's eyes. "You are wonderful, Elphaba."

Elphaba turned her head slightly, flushing. "Fiyero, don't."

He put a finger under her chin and turned her head towards him gently. "I mean it." Fiyero pressed his lips against hers.

It wasn't the first time they'd kissed, but all their kisses had been brief. This kiss sent fire through Elphaba's veins in a way no spell ever could. She always tingled when he touched her, but this was much different. His arm wound around her waist, the other still on her cheek as he pressed his lips firmly against hers. She felt his tongue teasing at her lips and she opened her mouth slightly. Her left hand found its way to the back of his neck, the other rested on his knee. It felt like ten minutes had gone by though it hadn't been even half a minute when they pulled away. She ran her tongue along her lips slowly, taking a deep breath.

Fiyero smiled at her, arm still around her waist. It was hard to tell beneath his ochre skin, but even his face was flushed. "It's going to be a long few months."

Elphaba laughed. "You'll survive."

His face turned serious. "Be careful."  
>"What?"<p>

"You know what I mean. The book, the research… just be careful, okay?"

Elphaba sighed. "Fiyero, don't start with this again."

"I'm sorry. I just… that book, I want you to have it. I want you to use it and learn the spells. But I also feel like there's something about it that isn't completely good."

Elphaba, too, had sensed something amiss about the book. Of the very few spells she could not understand, one of them bothered her, just hearing the sounds of the words in her head, though she didn't know what they meant. But she wasn't going to do anything stupid, and she hated when Fiyero acted so concerned. "You're being ridiculous."

"Maybe. But you know, at least, that the research is a little risky."

"I won't even be able to do much back home, anyway. I can't get my hands on much there."

"What do you have here that you don't have there?"

"A science building…"

"Elphaba, are you trying to tell me that you have used stuff from the science building for your research?"

"I've been careful. No one knows. Just one or two things that I really needed…"

Fiyero looked at her, eyes wide. "Are you crazy? What if you get caught?"

"I make sure I don't!"

"How long have you been…?"

"Just a month or two. No one knows. Dr. Nikkidik hasn't seemed to notice anything." Dr. Nikkidik was their new science professor. Elphaba had taken an instant disliking to him, partly because he replaced Dr. Dillamond, and partly because it was clear that his politics were much more aligned with Morrible's than Dillamond's had been – obviously why he'd been hired. He didn't even enjoy teaching. He acted like his students were exasperating.

Fiyero grabbed her hand and sighed. "I know I can't stop you."

"If you tried, I'd walk away right now."

"I know. And I do respect your passion for this. I just get concerned. But there's nothing I can do."

"You're right, there isn't. So can we drop it?"

He nodded. "What are you going to do all summer?"

"Study the book. Take care of my sister. Avoid my father as much as possible."

He laughed. "That doesn't sound like much fun."

"It won't be too awful. What are you going to do?"

"Follow my father around for a bit, even go into the city. I need to see what it's like to be a king. It'd be like I'm shadowing him."

"That actually sounds interesting."

"We could make a detour and stop by Munchkinland…"

"Fiyero, you know that can't work."

"I know, I know. I just wish I could see you, that's all. Are you sure that once your father finds out that I'm a prince he won't approve?"

"He won't. I have to be Eminent Thropp, remember? If I were to be involved with a prince from the complete opposite side of Oz, who would take my place?"

"You said you wished you could pawn it off on your sister."

"But my father wouldn't have it. She's 'much too frail' to handle something like that. I'll tell him when the time comes."

"In three more years…"

"Yes. You knew what you were getting into when we started this, Fiyero."

"I did. And I get it, I do. I just wish there was a way around it."

"There's not. Look, I have to meet Boq in an hour – we're going in a carriage together, again. Why the heck do trains not stop in Munchkinland? I mean, they stop in the Vinkus for Oz's sake and you guys have less people out there than we do!"

"Must be something to do with that yellow road the Wizard is building. It starts in Munchkinland. Maybe after he finishes building that part you guys will get a train out there."

"Well, the Wizard is an idiot."

Fiyero raised his eyebrows. "That's harsh."

"Well, with the way he manipulates the entirety of Oz, he can't be that stupid, I guess." Elphaba sighed. "But I really do have to go, Fiyero."

"Okay." He kissed her briefly on the lips. "I'll miss you."

"You already said that. But in case you didn't hear earlier, I'll repeat myself, too. I'll miss you, too." Elphaba headed back to her dorm.

An hour and a half later Elphaba was staring out the window of the carriage she shared with Boq as Shiz disappeared behind her. She knew she was going to miss the place more than she cared to admit.


	14. Chapter 14: Homecoming

**AN: I forced myself to write an outline before writing this chapter. The outline is done. I THINK I know where I'm going to end, and unless I can come up with anymore brilliant ideas, that will be where I intend to end. I've got this all planned out. Oddly, I've got the last part of the story much clearer than the next parts, which is weird. I also realized that I am way too nice to my characters. I was reading another author's fanfics about Elphie/Fiyero and she manages to be so much meaner to them and somehow get them together anyway. I'm just an impatient sap, I guess. I will work on this. I was pretty mean to Elphie and Yero in "It All Started At Shiz" towards the end, meaner than I ever wanted to be. And I thought I was pretty harsh towards the end (or at least the end as it was left) of "A New Boy of Shiz". And of course, I like to kill off people, once including one of their children… But really, I let them get out of everything. Fiyero always gets out of his arranged marriage immediately. Part of it is because I don't want him with ANYONE else. I don't know.**

**On another note, the girl who gave me the idea for this story is considering writing her own version of this, so do not accuse her of stealing any ideas, since it was her idea to begin with, she was just kind enough to let me play around with it. Hers will be very different (she's meaner to the characters than I am, since I'm a sap), Her story will be definitely more plot-driven rather than the way I do things, which is something I WISH I could do, but really, I suck at plot, that's why I tend to write creative nonfiction/memoir or take someone else's characters and just throw them into something without planning. I'm not a plot girl. I'm a romance girl, and a description girl (which actually seems to escape these stories, but my fiction is usually very descriptive) and a sex writing girl if ya'll haven't noticed that… which, by the way, I have not done in this story, I'm tired of always rushing them into either marriage and then sex or just sex. The way I usually move their relationship along has been in how "far" they go along with their emotional connection, and that's not how I want it to work this time.**

**I apologize for my obnoxious babbling. I like to explain and analyze my thoughts a lot – that's why I write memoir. Anyway, please enjoy. This chapter was kind of dragging for me – I just have all these other ideas that are about to come up but I needed a couple of these moments before I could get there.**

**By the way, I haven't seen any reviews lately... is anyone still reading this?  
><strong>

**Chapter 14: Homecoming**

As their day on the road wound to a close and Boq began to fall asleep against the side of the carriage, Elphaba was already bored and in no way tired. Instead, her mind was moving a mile a minute.

That kiss in the morning with Fiyero… She had always felt some sort of longing for him when she glanced at him, but this had awakened something more inside of her, a wanting she didn't know she could feel. Elphaba had not much thought of the physical part of their relationship; they spent most of their time talking or sitting in silence. It wasn't as though she wanted to jump into bed with him – that was NOT going to happen for a _long_ time, if it ever did – but she finally felt some sort of desire. She looked across the carriage at Boq, who was drooling and made a face. Elphaba didn't know what she'd do if she had to marry him; she couldn't even imagine kissing him. Not that she was imagining anything more than that with Fiyero… at least she was trying not to.

They arrived at Nest Hardings the next morning. Boq's parents and Nanny were there to greet them as they exited the carriage. Boq's mother was enthusiastic, hugging her son the moment he stepped out of the carriage. "I hope you guys had a great first year! Why didn't you write me more often?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes and looked to Nanny. "Hi."

"Hello, my dear Elphaba. I'm sure you studied hard this year."

"I always do, Nanny."

"Your sister is already getting excited to join you in the fall. I think your father will be happy to have me out of the house, as well."

"I'm sure he'll love just having Shell around," Elphaba replied sarcastically.

"Elphaba!" Boq's mother called. "Come here and tell us about everything!"

Elphaba reluctantly wandered towards Boq's family.

"So, did you two make a lot of friends? I hope Boq has been taking you on dates!"

Elphaba bit her tongue for a moment and stared at Boq.

Boq came to the rescue. "Mom, we don't really go out on dates at school. We made this group of friends and we really just spend a lot of time with them in one little group."

"Yeah." Elphaba nodded fervently.

"Tell us about your friends!"

Elphaba sighed. "Well, I have a roommate. Her name is Galinda. She's very… bubbly."

"And my roommate and his best friend are really interesting," Boq added. "They…" Boq trailed off, clearly confused as to how to tell his mother about Crope and Tibbet's cross-dressing without scaring each other.

"They love to act and pretend to be other people," Elphaba supplied.

"Then there are Galinda's friends. I don't really know a lot about them. They talk a lot amongst themselves. But they're nice."

"The only one who isn't nice is Avaric," Elphaba muttered.

"Well _Fiyero_ is certainly very nice, though," Boq said pointedly.

Elphaba threw him a look. "He's okay, I guess."

"Fiyero is a Winkie prince!"

"Boq! He's Vinkun, not a Winkie! That's not the term to use and you know it."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend _you_."

"It certainly sounds like you have had quite the adventure your first year," Boq's mother commented. "We should head on home. And so should you. I'm sure your father is eager to see you."

Elphaba snorted. "I'm sure." She rejoined Nanny and the two trudged towards the house.

Nessa was in the living room when they entered. "Elphaba! I've missed you so!"

Elphaba immediately softened and went to her sister, kissing her gently on the top of the head. "I have missed you, too, Nessie."

"Oh, Elphaba, it must have been so exciting to be out in the world at school! I cannot wait to attend Shiz, as well! You must introduce me to all of your friends the moment you arrive."

Elphaba smiled gently. "I don't have a lot of friends, Nessa. You know I never have."

"But you must have made some!"

"One or two," Elphaba conceded.

"Welcome home, Fabala," Frex came in from the kitchen holding a glass of water for Nessa, which he handed to Nanny so that she could help Nessa drink.

"Thank you, Father," Elphaba said, lowering her eyes.

"Elphaba was just telling me about all of her friends," Nessa said, letting Nanny hold the glass to her lips.

Frex raised his eyebrows. "I'm sure she has plenty of stories to tell, but breakfast is on the table. I'm sure she is plenty hungry after the long ride home."

Shell was already sitting at the little wooden table (one leg propped up with one of Elphaba's old school books) scarfing down his toast. He looked up when everyone entered. "Heffo, Ellapa…" He said, his mouth full.

"Hi to you, too, Shell." Elphaba shook her head and took a seat.

"Manners, Shell!" Frex scolded.

"Sorry, sis." Shell gulped down his food. "Good to see you."

The small family gathered around the table and Elphaba focused on her food to try to dodge questions.

"I trust you enjoyed your studies," Frex looked at when her plate was empty.  
>"Of course, Father."<p>

"Have you been attending a church near Shiz?"

Elphaba sat with her hands in her lap. "I haven't really had the time."

"But surely there is a Unionist church nearby?" Nessa looked concerned.

"I believe there is."

"I can't imagine that your studies were so consuming that you didn't have time to attend one weekly sermon," Frex said.

"For a time I was working as a lab assistant for one of my professors," she said quietly.

"Then I hope you were praying on your own, at least."

"I did, Father," she lied.

"Well, at least that's something. I hope you at least know where the church is so you can show your Nanny. I'm sure she'll be escorting Nessa there at least once a week. She's a very devout young lady," Frex smiled down at his younger daughter.

Nessa flushed. "I'd like to be a minister myself someday. I want to rid myself of all earthly wants and needs. I intend to never get married. In fact, perhaps I'll open a Unionist mauntery."

"That's wonderful, dearie, but remember how fragile you are."

"I'm sure there are people out there who are as faithful as I, father, and they will help."

"Speaking of marriage," Frex turned to Elphaba, "I trust you and Boq have been getting on well? Although not _too well,_ I would hope."

"Oh, not _too well_ at all, Father," Elphaba said honestly. "I am not at all interested in such things." _At least not with Boq_, she thought. _Well, not with Fiyero, either. Not now._

"Good to hear. That sort of thing should only be used for procreation."

"What if I don't want to procreate, Father? Do I really have to get married?"

"Elphaba, we've discussed this. It is not choice. As Eminent Thropp, you will need to have a child, so that child can have a child and so on and there will be more Eminent Thropps in the future."

Elphaba wanted to protest that Nessa could be Eminent Thropp, but he know her father would insist she was too frail, and after Nessa little speech about not having any earthly interests, he would never burden his favorite daughter with _procreation_. "But Father, why? What does it matter if it continues on or not?"

"I know now that we're not well off, but Eminent Thropp is a position that once came with such respect and responsibilities. I hope that one day the title will return to something as prominent as it used to be."

Elphaba sighed. "I understand."

"Boq is a nice boy, and he's a munchkin. He is a suitable husband for you, and two of you actually get along. Boq's parents and I made an agreement before the Unnamed God promising that one day the two of you would be wed. That's not something you can break, Elphaba. Surely you realize that."

"Yes, Father." Elphaba grumbled, turning away.


	15. Chapter 15: A Warm Welcome

**AN: Almost every time I post a chapter, someone favorites this and/or "Forced Love" (or sets an alert – or both). But I haven't seen many reviews. I was glad I got one last chapter. Anyway, I have a few chapters after this done, but I'm looking over them. So, enjoy (and maybe review?)**

**Chapter 15: A Warm Welcome**

Elphaba was more than grateful when it came time to return to Shiz, though her gratefulness was dampened slightly by the presence of Nanny and Nessa. She loved Nessa, but she also enjoyed her privacy. Perhaps it would've been possible to keep her business to herself it was just Nessa, but with Nanny there, she knew it would be close to impossible.

Before Elphaba even returned to her old room, she assisted Nanny and Nessa in setting up. Despite the fact that Nessa should be on the first floor because of her disability, Frex had insisted that Nessa be in the same hallway as Elphaba, and apparently there was no way to maneuver all the dorms in order to do that. Or perhaps Morrible simply didn't want to, since the Thropps couldn't afford to pay extra for it.

When she announced that she wished to return to her room, Nessa insisted on seeing Elphaba's room and meeting Galinda, so Nanny escorted Nessa along.

Galinda had arrived hours ago and was already organized again when Elphaba entered the room. "Oh, Elphaba, Fiyero was by earlier, he said he wanted to see you…" Galinda then saw Nanny and Nessa, along with Elphaba's horrified face and bit her lip. "He, um, said, uh, something about, like, having accidentally switched your life sciences books, yeah, right, and he ended up with yours at the end of last year? He wanted to make sure that, um, you got it back…"

Elphaba sighed and sent an appreciative look in Galinda's direction. "Thank you, Galinda. I'll go find him later. I would really like that book back, since I took so many notes in it. Anyway, I wanted to introduce you to my sister, Nessarose. With her is our Nanny."

"Hi, Nessarose! Your sister has told me about you. She said you were a lovely girl, and I can see that she was correct."

Nessa's peach colored skin flushed a deep crimson. "Thank you, Miss Galinda. I am glad Elphaba has such a kind roommate. I've been looking forward to meeting you and the rest of her friends."

"Oh, you'll get to meet everyone soon. We're all having lunch tomorrow, since class doesn't start until Monday. You are welcome to come with us."

"Nanny, may I? Can you take me?"

"Of course, so long as Elphaba goes along, too."

Everyone turned to Elphaba and she sighed, "I'll go."

"I'm so very excited! Anyway, I have had a long day and I need a rest. I will leave you two to catch up!" Nessa looked at Nanny as Nanny wheeled her out of the room.

When the door closed, Galinda turned to Elphaba. "I'm sorry. I didn't see them there, what with your sister in the wheelchair behind you…"

"It's fine. I don't think they caught on, although they probably think you're very forgetful since you couldn't seem to remember what Fiyero wanted to 'see me' for." Elphaba smiled.

"I've missed you, Elphie!" Galinda ran to Elphaba and engulfed her in a hug.

Elphaba patted Galinda on the back awkwardly. "It's, um, good to see you."

"I wanted to tell you something. I've been spending a lot of time thinking over the summer," Galinda began solemnly. "What happened to Dr. Dillamond… I know I didn't have as many classes with him as you did and all, but I met him on the train on the way here and he was a kind man, or, uh Goat. I've decided that, in his honor, I wish to be called Glinda from now on. Without the first 'a.' He had trouble pronouncing that."

"Okay…" Elphaba didn't bother to ask for more of an explanation. Galinda seemed sincere. She had learned that Galinda… well, Glinda, was more complex than she had assumed. Glinda had been much more accepting of her than she would've expected, and she was always trying to help her, even in ways that she didn't necessarily want to be helped.

"But that aside, I'm sure you've missed Fiyero something awful! You should probably head over there while you have a good excuse. Although maybe you should fix your braid."

"I'll go over there now," Elphaba ignored Glinda's hair advice, put her things down and left the room. Nanny was standing in the hall. "Nanny, what are you doing out here?"

"Nessa asked me to grab her some tissue from the restroom. Where are you headed so quickly?"

"Um, Fiyero's. That boy who accidentally switched books with me."

"Funny, you aren't carrying a book."

"Oh! I was so worked up about getting my book back that I forgot I needed to bring him his. I'd better go get it." Elphaba dashed back into the room, grabbed a book and left again, avoiding Nanny's scrutinizing glare.

As she walked across campus, Elphaba kept her eyes towards the ground, staring at the lush grass, the dirt and the concrete. She knew that new students would probably be gaping at her, and she didn't care to glare at them. She hurried her steps as she reached Fiyero's building and knocked on the door of his room.

He opened the door and smiled instantly, taking her by the arm and pulling her inside. Fiyero wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her enthusiastically. "I missed you!"

Elphaba blinked slowly, gently pulling out of his arms. "I can tell," she laughed. "I missed you, too." She looked at him; he had answered the door with the top two buttons of his shirt open, revealing two more of the diamond markings than she'd seen before, as though he'd been changing. He caught her staring along his neckline and chest and she flushed.

"Oh, yeah, oops." His hands went to the buttons. "I spilled juice on my shirt earlier. Grape. That shirt will probably never be wearable again," he laughed awkwardly.

"I'm sure you have plenty," she took his hand. "Fiyero, we really have to be careful this year. Nanny and Nessa are going to be in and out of my room all of the time and if you're there too much they'll start to wonder. And Galinda – oh, wait, she goes by 'Glinda' now, don't ask – almost slipped just now. You probably shouldn't leave too many messages with her. I don't want her feeling caught in the middle of this mess, unless she's stupid enough to end up dating Boq. We have classes together, if you need to see me, tell me then. I just… this is going to be a little difficult."

"Whatever happens, we'll figure it out," he pulled her closer to him by the waist again, smiling into her eyes. "I'm happy like this. I like to think that you are, too. We shouldn't ruin it by worrying just because there's a chance we might get in trouble."

"'We?'" Elphaba rolled her eyes. "I'd be the one in trouble. I mean, yes, we'd be forced to break up, but I'd probably face more punishment than that."

"You're right," he conceded, brushing a stray black strand of hair back from her face. "But we'd both be getting pretty hurt, in the end."

She rested her cheek against his shoulder. "I guess."

He stood still for a moment and then held her at arm's length, looking at her. "You look nice, Elphaba."

"I look the same as I did three months ago." She raised her eyebrows.

"You looked nice then, too." He looked at the book in her left hand. "Why'd you bring your life sciences book? I thought we had a different book this year? And you can't possibly have any studying to do now."

She cackled for a moment. "Glinda needed to find an excuse as to why you wanted to see me, that's all." Elphaba found herself too comfortable in his arms, too warm at his touch, so she moved away and sat down at his desk, looking out the window. She hadn't realized the year before, but Fiyero had a perfect view of Dr. Dillamond's old lab, which had remained vacant aside from a certain green girl who occasionally climbed through a window, sometimes to look for his old books or research (most of which had been confiscated by Morrible) or sometimes just to sit and think. She wondered if Fiyero had ever seen her sneak in.

Fiyero sat on the edge of his bed and looked at her. "How was your summer?"

She turned to him. "Bearable, but only because of Nessa. I mean, she drives me crazy sometimes with her religious talk, but the poor thing can't help that she's been brainwashed by our father. She does mean well. And what about your summer?"

Fiyero shrugged. "My father and I went into the city once, but we weren't even there a whole day, just to meet with some sort of delegate. Then we really just traveled through the Vinkus and met with some of the other tribe leaders. I hadn't ever met someone from the Scrow before, so it was actually pretty interesting. Did you get anywhere with your research… or the book?"

She narrowed her eyes at Fiyero. "I don't want to talk about the book and you know that."

"But I don't understand why, Elphaba."

Elphaba looked at her hands. Something about The Grimmerie felt as though it wasn't meant to be discussed. It felt like it was some sort of secret for her. And the fact that only she could read it only intensified that feeling. "It's hard to explain."

"Have you shown it to Galinda?"

"Glinda," Elphaba corrected. "Why would I?"

"Because she does sorcery. Maybe she could help you. Maybe she can read it, too."

Elphaba hadn't thought about that. But Galinda was in sorcery with Morrible, and that was just too risky. "I'm not ready to show her."

Fiyero nodded, though he clearly didn't understand. "That's fine."

"Fiyero, what happened at Kiamo Ko with the book, and the few things that have happened since when I've looked at it… they scare me. There's a lot of powerful stuff in there. And I have to be responsible for it. I can't just hand it off because Oz only knows whose hands it would end up in. But I'm not sure I like the responsibility." She looked him in the eyes, and what she saw there comforted her, and maybe worried her the slightest bit. He was looking at her tenderly, so obviously caring, and that was another responsibility for her, although she realized more every time she was with him that it was a responsibility she enjoyed. She smiled at the thought and blurted, "I think I love you." A hand flew to her mouth and her eyes widened. Where the hell had that come from?

Fiyero blinked, clearly taken aback. "That came out of nowhere." But he was smiling.

Elphaba was shocked, almost disturbed at herself. She lowered her eyes. "Yeah, it did." She had never thought she could say anything like that, much less say such a thing without being expected to, without someone else saying it first. "I was just… I was thinking about how many secrets I share with you. I wouldn't usually tell anyone if I was afraid, or if I was doing secret research. I feel comfortable with you, Fiyero, more comfortable than I've been with anyone. I didn't know I could be comfortable like this, and I didn't know that I _wanted_ to be. But I do." Her cheeks were purple, not pink, as she blushed.

Fiyero pulled a chair up beside her and took her hand. "I think I love you, too, Elphaba."

Elphaba took the initiative for the first time and kissed him.


	16. Chapter 16: It's Complicated

**AN: The reviews section of my story here looks slightly depressing. It makes me sad when I have more chapters than I have reviews… I have several more chapters written but I've been holding off on publishing because I want reviews, and I want someone to maybe look over them first. But we'll see what happens. Anyway, I did this chapter kind of to try and integrate Nessa into the group and see how she'd fit (because I wasn't really sure, and as you will see, I certainly figured it out) and to have a little bit of fun.**

**Chapter 16: It's Complicated**

The next day, everyone from the old group along with Nanny and Nessa met for lunch at the café. When Fiyero moved to sit next to Elphaba instead of Boq, she raised her eyebrows. Fiyero nodded and instead sat on the other side of Boq. Glinda introduced Nessa to everyone and, though Avaric obviously stared at the place where Nessa's arms should've been, he didn't say anything rude, at least for the moment. He certainly didn't seem pleased that they had a chaperone.

The first thing Nessa asked was. "Do any of you attend church?"

Glinda answered quickly, seeing Avaric open his mouth and wanting to prevent him from saying anything out of line. "On holidays, or sometimes I might attend a weekly service."

Nessa seemed disappointed and looked around at everyone sternly. "No one else does, at all?"

Boq, Crope and Tibbet muttered things about being "too busy" or having "a lot of work." Pfanee and Shen-Shen giggled nervously.

Avaric merely laughed. "Why would I go to church?"

Before Nessa could respond, not knowing she'd only be egging Avaric on, Fiyero chimed in. "They don't really have churches in the Vinkus, so I've never gone."

"That's so unfortunate!" Nessa exclaimed. Nanny, however, was rolling her eyes behind her. Nessa smiled kindly. "If anyone would like to join me, I will be attending the Unionist church west of campus at least twice a week."

"Have fun with that," Avaric remarked sarcastically.

Glinda shot Avaric a look. "Maybe I will come with sometime!"

Nessa beamed at Glinda.

"So…" Boq wisely decided it was a good time to change the subject. "What classes are you enrolled in this semester, Nessa?"

"I'm taking a mathematics course, a literature course and several history courses."

"No sciences this term?" Fiyero asked. "That's too bad because your sister is very good at sciences, all of them. Boq and I had classes with her this past year and I don't know what I would've done without her help."

"Definitely," Boq agreed.

"You'll probably see me around a lot. I'm not in life sciences this semester, but Elphaba's in my political history class, and I know I'm going to need her help!" Fiyero smiled at Elphaba.

Elphaba rolled her eyes at him. "If you guys really need my help to survive, maybe you shouldn't be here."

"Oh, I'd survive," Boq insisted. "Just… not with great grades."

Fiyero laughed.

Nessa nodded. "I'll have to take life sciences sooner or later, so I'm sure I'll be coming to my sister at some point. Boq is lucky he has such an intelligent fiancé."

The entire table went quiet. Elphaba and Boq exchanged uneasy glances. Finally, Avaric said, "Wait, Boq's getting _married_ to the vegetable?"

"That's incredibly rude, Master Avaric. And I am surprised you did not know. They have been arranged to be married for quite some time now."

Fiyero was looking down at the table uncomfortably, and Glinda's mouth was open as she tried to think of something to say to ease the awkwardness. Crope and Tibbet shrugged. Pfanee and Shen-Shen whispered fervently. Finally, Fiyero stuck out his neck. "I'm arranged to be married, as well. To a girl back home." He cast a sideways glance at Elphaba, who nodded at him.

Glinda looked confused. "You are?" She turned to Elphaba, who looked sideways, indicating she'd discuss it with her later.

"Oh, yes. It's a sort of custom for the Arjiki royalty."

"Royalty?" Glinda repeated. Everyone else at the table looked at Fiyero curiously. Even Boq hadn't known that part.

"It's not a big deal," Fiyero said. "There aren't a lot of people out there to begin with. I'm just prince of one of the three tribes. We're a little well-off, but it's really not as glamorous as you probably think."

Glinda was staring at Elphaba, eyes wide. Elphaba reached over and pinched her and whispered, "Not now." On the other side of her, Boq was staring at her, as well. Elphaba closed her eyes for a moment. She was going to have a lot of explaining to do.

Boq followed Elphaba and Glinda to their room when the group finally dispersed, after half an hour more of tense conversation. Elphaba thought about simply shutting the door in his face before he could walk in, but somehow she didn't think that would end well. She shut the door behind them and said, "Before you start talking, please be quiet. I don't know how much Nanny and Nessa might be able to hear from down the hall."

Glinda sat down on her bed. "Fiyero's arranged to be married? Are you guys nuts?"

Elphaba sighed. "He is, but he isn't. In the Vinkus, it is typical for the prettiest girl in the tribe to be offered up to the prince. Usually, the prince takes that opportunity and marries her, but it isn't necessarily required. He says he'd be bored marrying someone like him."

"That's still awkward isn't it? And strange. The both of you arranged to be married to other people and in love with each other."

"We're not _in love_, Glinda. We… we like each other." Elphaba looked to the floor.

Glinda sighed. "It's been a little while just to _like_ each other."

"Not your business."

"He's a prince, though," Boq interrupted. "Why didn't he tell us?"

"Because he doesn't really feel like it's important. I've been out there, and he's right, it's not all glamorous, though it is very nice."

"So you're arranged to be married to Boq, but involved with a prince who's arranged to be married, as well?"

"You make it sound so much more complicated than it is."

Glinda laughed. "I'm having a hard time understanding how the two of you even happened."

Elphaba looked at Boq. "I think all your questions are answered. You can leave now."

"But…"

"Leave." Elphaba folded her arms across her chest.

Boq grumbled to himself and left, leaving Glinda staring at Elphaba.

"You are right, this is complicated," Elphaba admitted.

Glinda nodded and sat beside Elphaba on her bed. "I would think so. But if it makes you happy…"

Elphaba looked at Glinda. "You know, it really does, actually."

Glinda hugged her. "Aw, that's so cute! Is it serious?"

"Define serious."

"Well, how far have you gone?"

"How far?"

"You can't seriously not know what I'm talking about."

"I can."

"I mean, like, have you kissed, have you done more than that, how much more of that have you done… stuff like that."

"I… well, I don't really like to talk about… we've kissed."

"A lot?"

"Maybe…"

Glinda smiled. "I saw you when you came back from seeing him the other day, you looked so much brighter than you have been lately. I'm glad that you guys are so happy. It's adorable."

Elphaba was trying very hard to have a normal girl-to-girl conversation, but it was wearing on her. "If you refer to Fiyero and me as cute or adorable or some other synonym, I might have to smack you."

Glinda bit her lip.

"It's going to get more complicated, though, I guess. I mean, with Nanny and Nessa…"

"I'll help you."

"I don't want you to. I don't want you caught in the middle."

"But if you ever really need me to, Elphie, I will. I can see how much you love him. I know, I know, you said you're not _in love_ but maybe you just don't know it yet."


	17. Chapter 17: Rejection

**AN: Coincidentally, my latest review mentioned that Boq doesn't really come up much. I already had this chapter written. I hope you like.**

**Chapter 17: Rejection**

After the fall holidays, Elphaba and Fiyero had adjusted to having to hide. Sometimes he would come over to study, and just sitting together studying was usually enough. And when they needed more privacy, for whatever reason, Elphaba would lie and say she was going to the library and end up in his room. Elphaba kind of enjoyed that they had to hide; it made it easier to keep things just between them, and in some ways it was kind of fun to lie to Nanny, something she hadn't done much back at Nest Hardings. One evening when Fiyero and Elphaba were pretending to study (although they were not talking about politics or history at all), Glinda came in and asked Fiyero, politely, to leave.

Fiyero could see that Glinda needed to speak with Elphaba and that she didn't mean to be rude in kicking him out, so he nodded kindly and grabbed his things, leaving Elphaba with a kiss on the cheek.

"What is it?" Elphaba closed her book and stood up.

"Boq."

"What in Oz has he done now? Did he let something slip? I'll kill him."

"No, it's not that, Elphie. He asked me for a date."

"I never thought he'd actually get up the courage to do that. Good for him."

"I said 'no.'"

"Oh," Elphaba paused. "May I ask why?"

Glinda lay down on her bed and rolled onto her side, looking at Elphaba as blonde curls fell into her face. "I don't want to date someone who is so nervous around me, and I know that will never change with him. It's cute, and very sweet, but that's not what I want."

"I can understand that." Elphaba sat down on her bed across from Glinda's.

"And Elphaba, with this whole situation, it's just too weird for me. He's a very nice guy, but he isn't the kind I want to be dating. I didn't want to offend or upset him when I said 'no,' but I think I may have. I don't want things to be awkward now."

Elphaba sighed. "I know. You know, it's funny, he's always been a little bit of a pushover, but he's never been the way he is about you with anyone else, and that's the thing that you dislike the most." After a pause she asked. "Are you sure it's not also about his status or financial situation?"

Glinda glared at Elphaba. "How could you think that? I don't judge that way anymore, Elphaba."

"I was just checking. But really, I can't exactly blame you for not wanting to date Boq."

Glinda smiled lightly at Elphaba. "I didn't think you would."

"He can be a sniveling idiot sometimes."

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that."

"Glinda, why do you seem so upset by this? He asked, you said 'no,' it's over."

"Because I liked things the way they were! I worry he's going to change that."

"He can't change too much, Glinda, or he'll give it away, and he wouldn't risk that." Elphaba assured her.

"That's true," Glinda said hopefully. "I'm sorry for kicking Fiyero out."

"It's fine. Although I'm sure he would've been pretty good about it. But I can understand that you wouldn't want to talk about it in front of him. I mean, you don't really know him that well."

"Of course I don't," Glinda teased, "because all I ever see him doing is talking to or fawning over you."

"He does not 'fawn over' me! I wouldn't put up with it."

"Maybe I'm not using the right words. He's certainly always looking at you with that sweet look in his eyes. He talks to Avaric, Crope, Tibbet and Boq, but when it comes to girls, he doesn't really seem interested in making friends; he only has eyes for you."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "That's cliché. And I think he likes you well enough as a person. He's always pushing me to tell you about things I'm upset about. Fiyero thinks you're a great friend to me."

Glinda blushed. "That makes me happy. I hope you think so, too."

"I do."

"You can tell him he's welcome to be my friend, too. I'd like to get to know him better, since he's always here and he is your boyfriend."

"I will."

"Elphie?"

"What?"

"Now that I've gotten this whole Boq thing off of my chest, I kind of want to be alone. I can go somewhere else if you want, but if you want to go over to Fiyero's, saying I wanted some alone time would be a good excuse."

Elphaba grinned at Glinda. "It is a good excuse. Are you sure you don't want to talk more?"

Glinda nodded.

"Well, I'll let you have your alone time then. I certainly understand needing it. I sometimes really do go to the library, Glinda. I'm not always with Fiyero."

"Thank you, Elphaba."

"I'll see you a little later."

Before Elphaba could get to Fiyero's room, she ran into Boq in the hallway.

"Boq, I heard what happened…"

"I guess I should've been prepared for that," Boq said somberly.

She looked towards Fiyero's door and sighed. "Do you want to talk?" Elphaba wasn't sure if it was a great idea to get into the middle of this, but Boq was her oldest friend, even though he wasn't her best friend. And if it weren't for him, she wouldn't be headed to see Fiyero at that moment, anyway.

"You know what? I think I would. I wasn't sure who I could really talk to. I was going to talk to Fiyero, but I think maybe you'd be the better person to talk to."

"I'm sure Fiyero would be glad to talk to you."

"Oh, I know he would. I just… I feel like you know this whole situation better."

"That makes sense," Elphaba said gently.

Boq walked to his room and unlocked the door. Crope was gone, as usual, probably with Tibbet. Elphaba wondered for a moment where they went if Tibbet had a roommate as well. She sat down on Crope's desk chair, on top of a blue velvet pillow. Boq sat on his desk chair and sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry that she said 'no,'" Elphaba tried.

"How could I ever have believed she'd say anything else? I was so hopeful that I even talked you into lying about whole marriage thing."

"I'm pretty sure you didn't talk me into it."

"Well, I shouldn't have said anything. At least then we'd have each other. Now you have Fiyero and where does that leave me?"

"Boq…"

"I'm starting to wish I hadn't come up with the idea to hide things and tell our parents at graduation in the first place."

Elphaba took a deep breath. She knew she had to tread carefully. "Just because Glinda said 'no' doesn't mean there won't be someone else eventually."

"But there is no one else! She's the only one I wanted!"

"You're being overdramatic, Boq. There are always other people."

"Oh, really?" He challenged. "Would you be saying that if Fiyero suddenly dumped you?"

Elphaba clicked her tongue. "Maybe not. I don't know because that's not the case right now."

"No, lucky you." Boq snapped.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you so angry at me? I'm not the one who rejected you. I'm not the one who acts like a bumbling moron in front of Glinda!"

"But you have someone. And I don't. It's not fair. You shouldn't."

"What are you trying to say?"

"What if I want to back out on our deal? Maybe we should just face the facts and realize we have to get married."

"You've got to be kidding me," Elphaba muttered. "You'd rather be stuck with me than have no one? Are you that pathetic?"

"Maybe I am."

Elphaba stormed to the doorway. "We'll talk about this later, when you're not such a freaking imbecile!" She slammed the door on her way out.

"I won't change my mind!" He called.

"Just shut up!" She shouted back. "We'll talk tomorrow, okay?" She ignored whatever it was he screamed back and ran to Fiyero's door, knocking loudly.

His door swung open. "Elphaba? What's up?"

"We might have a problem."


	18. Chapter 18: Back to the Point

**AN: I wasn't ready to post this, but… we lost power. I don't know when I'll be able to update again. They're saying it's going to be days before we get power back. I got to class a little early so I am posting this now. It's fluffy. I like fluff. **

**Chapter 18: Back to the Point…**

Fiyero listened to Elphaba quietly as she explained the conversation she just had with Boq. When she finished, he gritted his teeth. "He's kind of acting like a jerk."

"Kind of?" Elphaba laughed, not pleasantly. "I don't understand why he'd do this. It's not like he wanted to be stuck with me. He doesn't even realize that just because his beloved perfect Glinda doesn't care for him doesn't mean there aren't options that are at least better than me."

"I don't think there are any better options than you."

"Not the time to say that, Fiyero."

"I know. I just don't know what else to say." He sat down on his bed and patted the space beside him for her to sit down as well.

She did and he put an arm around her. "This is such a mess. I told you something would happen and it would get difficult."

"We'll talk him out of it, Elphaba, don't worry."

"He is not in the mood to listen to anything I have to say. If he keeps freaking out, he'll tell someone and then we're really screwed."

Fiyero pulled her closer to him. "No. That's not happening. This has come too far for me to lose you, Elphaba. For Oz's sake, it's been almost a year. I won't let Boq just throw that away." He ran his hand through her hair gently and then along her shoulders.

Elphaba shuddered and tilted her head towards him. He gave her a careful smile and she returned it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hungrily, pulling him back onto the bed. She felt his weight above her and it made her feel warm, safe, and a few other things she didn't quite want to name. She opened her mouth to him as his tongue circled her lips. And when his hands went to the buttons on her blouse, she had no interest in stopping them. Instead, she pulled her head away slightly and giggled (something she didn't think she'd ever done in her life) and tugged his shirt off, tracing the diamonds with her fingers as he struggled with buttons and clasps.

"I will not lose you," he murmured, helping her arms out of the blouse. "Not now."

Elphaba touched his cheek. "But what are we going to do?" Her eyes widened as his hand moved across her chest and she found herself panting and she closed her eyes for a moment.

He left a kiss like a whisper on her neck as he teased her skin. "I don't know."

She was trying very hard to keep her thoughts on the issue at hand, but when Fiyero began to kiss the hollow of her neck, her collarbone and a little lower, she swallowed heavily, yearning pooling below her abdomen. "Fiyero…" Elphaba gently pushed him away and sat up.

"Was that…? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… Too much?"

Elphaba laughed and smiled at him. "That is not the problem. Although it's enough for now," she said pointedly. "I just think we should be focusing on something else right now." She folded her hands across her chest, pulling her blouse around her.

Fiyero laughed, too. "You're probably right."

"But while we're talking about it, I think we can stick to that for now. I mean, not that I'm opposed to it, but this whole situation is kind of in limbo and…"

"I agree."

Elphaba noticed he hadn't put his shirt back on and she rested her head against his chest. "Back to the point…"

The two of them rested against the pillows at the head of the bed and Elphaba buttoned her blouse back up. Fiyero sighed. "One of us needs to talk to him."

"That's a bad idea, at least at the moment. He kind of hates us right now."

"Why?"

"Because I got what I wanted out of our little 'deal' and he didn't."

"But if we don't talk to him soon, he might spill."

"That's true."

"We could make him think we broke up?"

"And have to hide it from more people? You think he won't figure it out? Fiyero, I don't know what to do about this."

"Let him sleep on it. It's past dinner. I don't know that he has anyone to really tell tonight, anyway. First thing in the morning, we'll talk to him, together."

"Do you really want to rub it in his face that we're together and he isn't with Glinda?"

"I think that it'll remind him that we are his _friends_. He needs to know that we are not out to get him and that we want him to be happy, too. I don't want him thinking that we are his enemy, because even if he calms down, I don't know that he won't do it again out of some sort of jealousy for what we've got."

"He doesn't see what we have, Fiyero. No one does. We hide. What is there, as far as he can tell, to be jealous of?"

"Maybe he doesn't see us together, but I do talk to him about you sometimes. Nothing you wouldn't want me to say, usually just how much I care about you and such. He sees that I'm happy. And he knows it has to do with you."

"Do I really make you that happy?" Elphaba traced the diamonds again.

He smiled down at her and kissed the top of her head. "You do. Elphaba, I love you."

She closed her eyes. He loved her. He didn't just _think_ he loved her. He actually loved her. Someone loved her. It felt good, but it felt like something forbidden, something she was never supposed to have. "I love you, too."

"First thing in the morning, we'll talk to him. I don't know what we'll say. But we'll find something." Fiyero hugged her closer. "Would you stay here and then we can go there together in the morning? It is Friday, after all."

Elphaba pulled away a little. "Fiyero, I don't think that's a good idea…"

"I didn't mean like that."

"No, that's not it. If Nanny and Nessa knew I didn't stay in my room, I'd be in serious trouble."

"How would they know? Do they come by every night and every morning to check on you?"

"No. But, Fiyero, Glinda would be forced to cover for me."

"Does she know you're here?"

"Yes. But if I stayed overnight here, she'd demand details. And it would worry her if I didn't come back at all."

Fiyero looked disappointed, but nodded and sat up. "You're probably right. But can you at least stay a few more minutes?"

She nodded.

"I do need to go over the Ozma part of the political history before the test…"

Elphaba laughed. "And you think that late at night when you're clearly tired is a good idea? I think we're kind of too focused on the whole Boq situation to really absorb anything right now. At least you are. I already know what I need to know."

"Oh, quit bragging," he teased.

"I'm not bragging. I'm just pointing out that I already did the work and studying I was supposed to do, you lazy oaf!"

"I'm not an oaf."

"So you admit you're lazy?"

"I admit that I am not as motivated as you are when it comes to school work. Some might consider that lazy."

"I'll stay after we talk to Boq tomorrow and we'll go over it, okay?"

"I'm just sad you can't stay until we talk to him tomorrow. But I can settle for that."

"You have no choice. No amount of begging is going to get me to stay here, as tempting as it may be." Elphaba took a deep breath. It was tempting in more than one way, and that was part of the reason she thought she should leave. "I really should go. Glinda will worry. It's already past lights out and if I get caught here…"

"I know. Back here tomorrow morning?"

"As soon as visiting hours start again."

"We'll figure this out. I promise."

"You can't promise something like that, Fiyero." Elphaba kissed him on the cheek and left, wandering down the darkened hallway, hugging herself and thinking of how he had touched her. She shook her head, because she knew she should be wondering what the hell she was supposed to do now.


	19. Chapter 19: A Little Help From A Friend

**Chapter 19: A Little Help From A Friend**

Glinda was waiting up when Elphaba returned. "I know I said I needed my alone time, but you didn't have to miss lights out, Elphie."

"I know that. There was just a situation I had to deal with. Well, am dealing with."

"Is something wrong with you and Fiyero?"

"Not exactly. I mean, it could be. As usual, Glinda, things are complicated." Elphaba sat down on her bed. "I ran into Boq on my way to Fiyero's room."

"I hope he's okay."

Elphaba bit her lip, debating what to tell Glinda. She didn't want her to feel responsible for Boq's actions. It wasn't her fault. "It's not you, Glinda. He just got his hopes up too much. You didn't encourage that. I've seen you around him; you in no way acted like you were interested. But he was very angry at me."

"At you? Why?"

"I got what I wanted. He didn't."

"I can see that, I guess. I mean, sometimes even I feel a little jealous when I see the way Fiyero looks at you, and the way that you flush when you catch him. It's cute."

Elphaba wanted to lecture her for calling the whole thing "cute" again, but instead she just rolled her eyes. "Why would you be jealous? I'm sure there are plenty of guys who would fall head over heels for you, more than just Boq."

"Because Fiyero loves you, but not in that way that makes him act silly or clueless. And he loves you enough to let you do what you want, though I think he worries about you sometimes. There are times when you sneak off and I know it's not to see him, Elphaba."

Elphaba looked at Glinda suspiciously. "There are some things that maybe I should tell you. But not right now. Boq told me he wanted to allow the arranged marriage to happen anyway, because at least he'll have something."

"Oh, Elphie, I'm so sorry, this is my fault."

"Glinda, it's not! It isn't your fault that you don't have those feelings for him. It's how he reacted and you can't control that."

"Well, what are you going to do?"

"I tried to talk sense into him. I told him that there were other girls out there. He wasn't exactly rational. So I left and went to Fiyero's room."

"What does Fiyero have to say?"

"He thinks we should talk to him in the morning. Maybe he'll be calmer. He… he asked me to stay the night."

Glinda bounced on her bed. "Oooh, Elphie!"

"Not like that! I mean, we haven't. And there are quite a few things we haven't done. I think he's just freaking out a little because he's worried that this might break us up and he just wanted to spend more time with me."

"And you said 'no'?"

"I did. I can't stay there, Glinda. You wouldn't know where I was. And what if Nanny or Nessa stopped by?"

"I would've found some excuse for you."

"You wouldn't have been worried if I hadn't come back?"

"Oh, yeah. You're right, I might've been a bit worried and I don't know what I would've done."

"Exactly."

"Elphie, can I come with you tomorrow to talk to Boq?"

Elphaba stared at her. "Why? I don't want you to agree to go out with him just to save my relationship with Fiyero."

"I wasn't going to. But maybe he'll listen to me. If he's as angry as you say he is, he might be a little nicer if I'm there. I want to help."

"Only if you want to. I don't want to drag you into this. I never wanted to. This shouldn't be your problem."

"But you're my friend, and I don't want to see you unhappy. Please let me help."

"Thank you, Glinda."

"You'd do the same for me."

"Somehow I don't think that our roles could really be reversed in this situation."

Glinda laughed lightly. "You are probably right. But you know what I meant."

"I do. Good night, Glinda."

The next morning, Glinda joined Elphaba on her walk over to Three Queens the moment that "visiting hours" began and girls could be in boys' rooms. Fiyero smiled, though he looked a little lost, when he saw Glinda. "Hey, Glinda. What's up?"

"I want to help."

"She thinks that if he's as rude as he was last night, he'll back down and be a little kinder if she's there." Elphaba explained.

"She's probably right." Fiyero turned to Glinda. "Thank you."

Glinda smiled. "I know Elphie loves you. I don't want her to lose that just because Boq's being a little silly. I certainly don't want her moping around the room all the time!"

Fiyero laughed. "She's not one to mope."

"But she wouldn't be happy."

"Neither would I." He looked at Elphaba tenderly and she looked at her feet.

"I guess we should get to it, then," Elphaba said uncomfortably.

All three of them struggled to fit in the doorway when Boq opened the door. Of course, the first one he noticed was Glinda. "What…" He looked around. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk to you, that's all." Glinda said gently.

Boq looked sheepish, looking at the three of them as though he were surrounded. "Um, okay. Come in."

Crope was still in the room, and he looked up at everyone. "Hey, why was I not notified we were having a party? I am not properly dressed for a party!"

Elphaba snorted. "That's not exactly what's going on here."

"Good! I'd never forgive Boq if he didn't tell me about a party."

"Um, Crope, this is kind of a private thing," Boq said awkwardly.

"Oh! Say no more. I'm sure Tibbet is awake by now, I'll just head up there." Crope grabbed a bag that looked suspiciously like a purse and ran out of the room. Glinda giggled.

"Sit down." Boq gestured to the desk and extra chairs and everyone sat down.

"Look, Boq, I understand that you're not happy about what happened yesterday," Elphaba started calmly, "but we made a deal. And I think you'll realize that, no matter what, you really don't want to back out of it."

Fiyero had sat himself close to Boq while the two girls were close together. "Even if you don't think there's anything better out there, do you really want Elphaba to be your second choice?"

"I mean, there are better choices out there than me, even if they aren't, well, Glinda."

Glinda flushed. "Boq, you really are a nice guy, but you're just not what I'm looking for at the moment. And maybe you'll realize eventually that I might not be what you're looking for."

"Boq, I don't want to threaten, but if you did back out on the deal, none of us would look at you the same way." Elphaba said.

"And I don't want that. Honestly, you're the only guy in the group I can talk to." Fiyero smiled at Boq.

Boq laughed for a moment. "Yeah, but if you ever talk to me about, like, kissing her or something… just gross. I can't see her like that. Ever."

"Exactly!" Elphaba exclaimed. "How do you think the two of us would end up, Boq? Neither of us would be happy. There have got to be girls out there you _can_ think of like that one day, but I doubt either of us will ever have those sort of feelings for each other."

"You're right." Boq admitted.

"Boq, let me tell you something," Glinda said softly. "I'm jealous of them, too."

"Them?"

"Fiyero and Elphaba."

Fiyero raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

Glinda smiled. "It's hard not to see them and want the same thing they have, but you can't force that sort of thing. And taking that away from them would be… wrong, no matter how jealous or upset you are."

"Okay, why in Kumbrica's hat is everyone so freaking jealous of us?" Elphaba demanded. "There are plenty of people dating. And they're more… normal than us. What makes us special?"

Glinda laughed. "Well, there may be plenty of people dating, but you're the ones we see."

"You _don't_ see. We hide half the time."

"I see plenty, Elphie. You may not _do_ anything in our room, but you guys spend plenty of your time there. And when you know what you're looking for, it's obvious enough."

"Are you telling me that everyone knows?" Elphaba looked horrified.

"No, not at all. But I know, and I see it because of that. It's probably the same with Boq."

He nodded. "I guess I was a little jealous."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "For no good reason."

Fiyero intervened. "You can discuss why everyone's so jealous another time, Elphaba. That's not the issue here."

"There is no issue." Boq sighed. "I'm sorry, you two. And I'm sorry to you, too, Glinda."

"It's okay, Boq. You were upset. Don't worry about it." Fiyero got up. "But we really do have to study."

Glinda almost snorted.

"No, really," Elphaba snapped, "he needs to study. I don't. But I don't want him failing, either. Is that okay, Glinda?"

"Yeah, I'll head back to our room. I'll see you later, Elphie."

Boq nodded. "Thanks for talking to me. I'm sorry, again."

"It's fine. See you later." Elphaba shrugged as she shut the door. She turned to Fiyero. "Why do we make everyone jealous?"

Fiyero just laughed.


	20. Chapter 20: Lovey Stuff

**AN: Note on the previous chapter: I am aware that I let them out of that WAY too easy, but I know he would've backed down if Glinda had come with. And… well, I have all these crazy things planned for years 3 and 4 at Shiz that I'm probably moving through year 2 a little too fast. But I've got lots of plot coming up. That would probably be why I'm actually 5 chapters ahead of what I'm posting… I apologize if this year seems a little fluffy. It is. Let them enjoy it before things get a little crazy.**

**Chapter 20: Lovey Stuff**

"You need to stop looking at me like that." Elphaba glared at Fiyero over her history book. They were studying, as usual. Spring term had only just begun and Fiyero was already claiming to need Elphaba's help, though she had figured out by now that he was smarter than that. She wondered if he really had needed her help before they had started dating or if that was just an excuse. And then she wondered if she actually liked that idea.

"Like what?"

"Like… oh, I don't know how to explain it. All lovey and that sort of fluff."

"But I do love you."

Elphaba put her book down. "I know that. I know you know I love you. But I will not stand for cutesy stuff. It makes me uncomfortable."

"So I can't look at you?"

"Ugh! I just mean… okay, you can look at me. Maybe even look at me like that. But not all the freaking time. It just bothers me. And the things you've said in front of Glinda or Boq make me uneasy. I know that they know, but this is between us. I can't stand cutesy stuff in general, but in front of our friends, no matter how close they are, it just seems wrong, okay?"

Fiyero laughed. "Um, okay."

She leaned over and kissed him sweetly on the lips. "I'm not saying that I don't care."

"I know." He frowned when she went back to her book. "Can we go back to what you just did? Because I really liked that."

"There are other things you're thinking about liking, too, Fiyero, and they are not happening."

"I know that, even if I don't like it." He said softly.

She flushed. "Way to make me feel even more awkward."

"I'm just saying that I find you incredibly beautiful and that sometimes distracts me."

"We aren't ready for that, especially not in this situation."

"I understand that, Elphaba, and I agree. There's a difference between wanting to emotionally and physically and wanting to rationally."

Elphaba was well aware of that difference, as it tugged at her every time he kissed her. She looked up into his dark eyes. "And you can remember that no matter how 'emotional' you might get?"

"I can."

"Good. Now, since you clearly aren't getting any studying done, you can go. I'll see you in class tomorrow." Elphaba shooed him out the door.

Glinda came back a little while later from shopping with Pfanee and Shen-Shen. "What happened to Fiyero?"

"He left. I've got things to do." Elphaba's mind wandered over to Dr. Dillamond's lab, where she had hidden a little bit of her own research. "And that reminds me, there is something I've wanted to tell you."

Glinda's eyes lit with excitement. "Okay!"

"This isn't quite the scandalous secret you'd be looking for. But it is serious, okay?"

Glinda nodded.

"Sometimes when I tell you I'm going to Fiyero's, I don't go. I sneak into Dr. Dillamond's old lab. I do research there. I have been trying to finish the research he was so close to finishing before he was murdered."

"You still think he was murdered?"

Elphaba sighed. "I know he was. And I know what happened."

"What? Why haven't you gone and told Morrible?"

"Because it _was_ Morrible. Well, not exactly. I mean, she didn't do it herself. She sent that annoying little tick-tock thing of hers. I saw it leave."

"Morrible? Are you serious? Elphaba, do you have any idea what you're saying?"

"I do. I've thought about it for a year, Glinda. I know you have class with her and I didn't say anything earlier because of that. But Fiyero has known, and I don't want to keep it from you. You deserve to know who your professors are."

"But why would she do such a thing?"

"Because Dillamond was about to prove that all that crap the Wizard's been spouting about Animals being lower than us is wrong. And she couldn't have that."

Glinda took a deep breath. "Elphaba, I don't know what I'm supposed to think about this."

"I'm not telling you what to think. I'm just telling you what I saw and what I think about it. You have to promise me you won't say anything to anyone."

"I promise. Elphaba, how have you not gotten caught?"

Elphaba bit her lip – the part about the Grimmerie helping her sneak in, helping her conceal herself and helping her break in and steal things from the science building… she wasn't ready to go into that. Not yet, but eventually. "I know what I'm doing, that's all."

"You should be careful."

"Believe me, I'm aware. Fiyero's said that enough already."

There was a knock on the door. Glinda answered it. "Um, hi Boq. You're probably here for Elphaba?" Her voice was a little strained. Elphaba found it funny how Glinda had hoped that nothing would be awkward and she was the one acting different.

"I am. You don't have to leave, though. It's just a schoolwork issue."

"Oh. Well, actually, Nessa invited me to church with her and I thought I might as well appease her. She's a nice girl." Glinda was wearing a light pink dress and holding a small handbag. It seemed clear enough to Elphaba that she wasn't making it up – she looked dressed for church.

"Have fun," Elphaba said sarcastically.

"I don't know why you won't go with her just once in a while."

"I don't believe in that stuff, Glinda. I've told you that."

"But you could still go and pretend."

Elphaba shook her head. "It really doesn't feel right. Honestly, I have no soul, why in Lurline's arse should I be in a church?"

"I'm not getting into the soul argument with you again, Elphaba. I really should go meet Nessa. Nanny is kind of looking forward to it because I said I'd help her get there and give Nanny a break."

"You're very nice to my sister." Elphaba said gratefully. "Thank you for that."

"It's not a problem. I'll see you in a few hours."

Boq sat down on the floor. "You've taken the second life sciences course, right?"

"Last year. Do you have Dr. Nikkidik?" Elphaba made a face.

"Yeah. That's part of the reason I'm having trouble. All he does is mumble and I can't understand a thing he says."

Elphaba nodded. "I'm not surprised. He doesn't exactly make you want to listen to him, either. What are you having trouble with?"

"This part about plant growth. I haven't quite understood the whole chloroform thing."

Elphaba snorted. "Boq, it's chlorophyll."

"That explains part of the problem…"

Elphaba took the book from him and opened it up to a diagram. "Okay, see the part here, where the plant is just a seed? This is where it starts."

Boq examined the page. "Okay, I got that. Sunlight, water…"

"Right."

"Hey, Elphie?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For talking me down. You were right. I don't want to be with you - no offense."

Elphaba snorted. "Believe me, I am in no way offended."

"You've been my friend for as long as I can remember. Fiyero is a nice guy. He's never been rude to me. And he doesn't try to hit on me, unlike Crope. He's probably my closest male friend out here. I am jealous, but I'm also glad you found each other. It does freak me out ever so slightly, since the idea of you dating anyone never really occurred to me."

"Honestly, it didn't occur to me, either. I had no interest."

"What changed?"

Elphaba flushed. "He wouldn't leave me alone. He never looked at me like I was any different from him. He's just different than anyone I've known, I guess."

Boq smiled. "I think the majority of the people in our little circle of friends qualify as different."

"True enough. But his version of different is special."

"He's good to you, right? I mean, I can tell for the most part, but I don't see everything."

"He's obnoxious." When Boq looked confused, she explained. "He's so good to me sometimes that it's annoying."

"And he's respectful of you?"

"Are you asking me about what I think you're asking me about?"

Boq turned beet red. "Maybe."

"He's very respectful, not that it's really any of your business. And really, it's a little late to interrogate me about someone I've been dating for over a year, Boq."

"I just needed time to really adjust to the idea of it. I knew you liked him but I guess it didn't quite hit me that you'd actually end up dating."

"Seriously Boq, did you think I was going to end up an old maid?"

"Well, not necessarily, but I thought… well, yes, I did. Not because no one would like you, but because you like to do your own thing."

"I do. And he lets me do my own thing, whether or not he completely approves of it."

"That's good, Elphie. I do care about you and it matters to me that you're happy."

Elphaba smiled at him. It was the first time since they'd gotten here that she really felt like they were friends again.


	21. Chapter 21: Equals

**AN: Okay, guys, next chapter starts year three for them, so… there will be more action (not like that… yet)! In fact, the first thing I wrote into the third year wasn't even on my outline, it just kind of occurred to me. I like the idea, though. You'll see what I'm talking about soon enough. I don't think I've ever even mentioned Elphaba's birthday once while she was at Shiz in any of my stories. Thought I'd change that, although Elphaba doesn't exactly get what she wants on her birthday…**

**Chapter 21: Equals**

Elphaba was hiding in her room. It was her birthday and she really didn't want to be fussed over. She had never cared for birthdays. Perhaps it was because she had never gone to many birthday celebrations and the ones she'd had as a child were less than pleasant. She knew Fiyero was going to insist on bothering her at some point. She hoped he hadn't been foolish enough to buy her a gift; she'd asked him not to. Nanny and Nessa had never bothered her about it at home. By the time she'd turned ten, it had become pretty clear that her birthday was to be all but ignored. Nessa, though, had carelessly slipped to Glinda that it was Elphaba's birthday, something she had been able to hide the previous year. Glinda had gone and told Fiyero, and now she was stuck.

Glinda had gone out shopping again (Elphaba dreaded whatever it is she was buying for her – she didn't want gifts at all, but whatever Glinda would buy her had to be horrifying). Elphaba had taken advantage of that, locked the door and plopped on her bed with her social sciences book. But peace was just not a birthday present Elphaba was going to get (though it was the only one she actually wanted). After about ten minutes, someone knocked on the door. Elphaba grumbled to herself and went to the door. "What do you want?"

"Happy birthday!" Fiyero smiled, holding out two boxes; the top one was obviously chocolates from the local candy shoppe.

Elphaba grabbed him and dragged him into the room. "What are you thinking? If Nanny or Nessa saw you coming to my room today with gifts like that, what would they think, Fiyero?"

He bit his lip. "Um, they'd think I was a really good friend?"

"I doubt that. Boq doesn't even get me gifts and we're 'engaged.' I think they'd figure out that you are more than just a friend." She shut the door behind him, not bothering to lock it. Glinda would probably be back soon, anyway.

Fiyero sighed. "I'm sorry. But I knew you wouldn't come to my room. How else was I supposed to give you these?"

"Well, how about not giving me anything at all?"

He frowned. "Why would I do that? I know you asked me to, but Avaric told me women always do that and they always expect you to get something anyway."

"And you believed him? He may have been right about most women, but Fiyero, why on earth would you think any knowledge Avaric has of women would pertain to me?"

"I didn't. Really, I just wanted an excuse to get you something."

Elphaba groaned and fell back on her bed. "Fiyero, why don't you listen to me?"

"I listen. I just don't do what you tell me to. How many times do you do things I don't like?"

"The research? The book? That's different, Fiyero, and you know it."

"You're right that's different! That's a much bigger deal than a birthday present. Birthday presents aren't usually dangerous." He sat down beside her and put the gifts on the bed between them.

She looked at him fiercely for a moment before she softened. Elphaba absolutely hated it when he actually had a point, but he did. "Okay, fine. But next time, you had better listen to me." She looked at the box that was obviously chocolates. "I'll save these for later." She put them on her bedside table. "Happy?"

"There's another box there, Elphaba. I know you aren't blind." He nudged her.

"You irritate me to no end, Fiyero."

"You like it." He teased.

She rolled her eyes. "What gives you that idea?"

"You keep putting up with me."

Elphaba laughed and kissed him.

"Happy birthday. Fabala, Glinda was kind enough to bring me…" Nessa trailed off as she looked from Elphaba to Fiyero as they pulled apart quickly.

From behind Nessa, Glinda's face fell. She gave Elphaba the most apologetic look Elphaba had ever gotten. "Hi, Fiyero… Uh, happy birthday, Elphie… oops…"

"What are you doing?" Nessa asked weakly.

"Come in and close the door." Elphaba said softly.

Glinda rolled Nessa's chair in and shut the door gently behind her. "I'm sorry, Elphie. I had no idea… I was only gone a few minutes and I thought…"

"What are you talking about, Glinda?" Nessa demanded.

Elphaba put her head in her hands and took a deep breath.

Fiyero looked at her as though he wanted to hold her, but it clearly wasn't the time. "Do you want me to stay here?" He whispered to her.

"I don't know that it'll make a difference either way," she mumbled, "but you can stay."

Glinda moved Nessa next to her own bed and Glinda sat down on the bed next to her. "Nessa, Elphaba and Fiyero…"

Elphaba cut her off. "Stop, Glinda. This is my problem. I'll explain." She got up and kneeled by her sister's chair. "Nessie, I'm so sorry. You know that I'd hate to hide anything from you, but I had to. Fiyero and I have been seeing each other for over a year now."

"But what about Boq? You're betraying him, dear sister."

"No, I'm not. He knows. Listen, Nessa, Boq and I are friends, but we don't have those sort of feelings for each other. We never will. We agreed that we'd see other people if we wanted to and that, if at the end of Shiz, either of us found someone, we would then tell Father and Boq's parents."

"Why can't the two of you just tell them now?"

"Because they won't care. They'll take us out of Shiz. Nessa, please understand. I care for Fiyero very much."

"But Father made a promise, a holy promise."

Elphaba sighed. "Please, you don't understand. What if Father wanted you to get married to someone you didn't want to get married to?"

"I wouldn't want to get married to anyone."

"Exactly. How would you feel, then, Nessa?"

"I'd be disappointed, but if Father had declared before the Unnamed God that it was to be, I guess I'd have to do it, Fabala."

"You can't know that, Nessa. Not until you're in that position, and because Father loves you too much, he would never do that."

"Father loves you, as well."

Elphaba raised an eyebrow at Nessa. "You can't tell me you really think he looks at the two of us as equals, Nessie."

Nessa bit her lip.

Fiyero got up and moved next to Elphaba. He took her hand. "Nessa, I know you don't know me well, but I love Elphaba. I'd declare it before the Unnamed God a thousand times if it would change this whole situation."

Elphaba looked at him, mouth slightly open, unsure of how to respond that.

"That is a very lovely sentiment, Fiyero." Nessa smiled at him.

"I mean it. I would never hurt your sister. She's the most wonderful woman I have ever met."

"Fiyero," Elphaba muttered under her breath, "really, I'm going to kill you if you keep saying this stuff. What did I tell you about saying these things in front of people?"

"Elphaba," Fiyero didn't bother to lower his voice, "do you want me to lie? Do you want me to keep my mouth shut? I'm trying to show her that we're serious about this."

Elphaba blinked very slowly. "Yero, it's a bit much."

"I mean every word of it, Elphie."

Nessa looked from Fiyero to Elphaba and back again. "Elphaba, I don't know what to say. I understand that you genuinely want to be with Fiyero, but disobeying Father like this makes me uncomfortable."

"That's why I didn't want to tell you. It wouldn't have been fair to make you lie to him, too." Elphaba put her hand on her sister's knee. "But now that you know…"

"Are you asking me to lie to our father?"

"I'm asking you not to say anything. To him, or to Nanny."

Nessa looked at Glinda, as if asking her for help. "I don't… he's Father… and he made a promise…"

"If the Unnamed God truly thinks all people are equal," Glinda commented, "then your father's promise should mean just as much as Fiyero's. Or Elphaba's."

Elphaba stared at Glinda. "You've actually been listening when you take Nessa to church?"

Glinda smiled. "Maybe."

Nessa looked at Glinda. "You do have a point, though Elphaba is so blasphemous sometimes that I don't know what the Unnamed God would think…"

"But did you hear what Fiyero said, Nessa? He'd swear his feelings for Elphaba in front of the Unnamed God as many times as he could. And I've never heard him say anything blasphemous. Just because he never attended church in the Vinkus doesn't mean the Unnamed God doesn't love him."

"That's true." Nessa agreed.

"Please, Nessie." Elphaba pleaded.

"Oh… alright. For now. I need to think about this some more anyway."

Elphaba stood up and hugged her sister. "Thank you. I do love you, Nessa."

"And I love you, too, Fabala. Happy birthday, dear sister. Now, Glinda, would you please return me to my room? All of this commotion has me feeling a little peaked."

Glinda nodded and pushed Nessa out of the room.

"What the hell was that about, Fiyero? Were you trying to sound like a character in a romance novel? That was so obnoxiously over the top…"

"Elphaba, shut up," he quipped. "It worked, okay? And I told you that I meant it." He pulled her into a hug. "I love you so much," he murmured. He kissed her slowly.

Glinda walked back in the room. "Seriously, how many times are you going to risk getting caught today, you two?"

Elphaba laughed.

"Fiyero, that was one of the sweetest things I've ever heard anyone say. Elphaba is awfully lucky to have you." Glinda hugged him and he stiffened before hugging her back.

"It was you that got to Nessa by using Unionist logic against her." Fiyero pointed out. "That was pretty clever."

Glinda grinned. "I try. Oh, Elphie, I forgot to tell you happy birthday. And I have a present for you…"

Elphaba moaned. "Why does no one ever listen to me?"

"She still has another gift to open." Fiyero insisted.

"Oooh!" Glinda sat down and stared at Elphaba.

"Can you please not stare at me like that?" Elphaba turned to Fiyero. "I'm talking to you, too."

"I deserve to. The gift is from me, Fae."

She sighed. "Fine, fine. Just remember I am doing this under extreme duress." Elphaba took the ribbon off the box and opened it gingerly. She looked down at it and stared back up at him. "How did you get this?"

"Crope and Tibbet snuck into Morrible's office."

"If they got caught with it, if you got caught with it, if I got caught with it… you're insane. I mean, I thought she'd destroyed it all."

"Most of it. This was basically all that was left. She had it locked in a drawer, which Crope and Tibbet were disturbingly good at unlocking. I'm assuming whatever was in it was more important."

"If she found out it was missing, won't she go looking for it?"

"And how will she know where to look?"

"You have a point." Elphaba stared at the tattered notebook in her hands. It had been Dr. Dillamond's notebook, one of many. It was only half full – he'd never had the chance to fill it. "I can't believe you did this."

"Me, either," Glinda chimed in, "now my gift will never compare."


	22. Chapter 22: Fiyero to the Rescue, or NOT

**AN: Hello, loves. I decided not to update this within 24 hours and to wait a little more than that. I am much further ahead on this (by about 5 chapters, and I try to keep it that way) but this is a little plotline I play around with for a few chapters, so I thought I'd leave a little time before introducing it. I'm not sure if the whole thing is going to come back to bite them in the end or not, but I liked the idea, so I'll see what it wants to do when I get further on.**

**Chapter 22: Fiyero to the Rescue… or Not**

Despite Elphaba's worries that Nessa would accidentally (or purposely) reveal her disobedience to her father, the whole three months of summer were surprisingly without drama, not that they flew by or anything. She was eager to get back to school. The first thing she did after getting settled was to grab Dillamond's old notebook and sneak into the old lab, again. She wondered if she should leave the notebook there. After all, the very place Morrible took it from would be the last place she'd look for it, right? Elphaba sat in Dillamond's old chair and stared down at the scribbles on the pages.

Fiyero had seen Elphaba head into the lab through his window, and while he wanted to see her badly, he knew she didn't want him in there with her. He was about to see if Boq was back yet when out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone – no, something – else heading towards the rundown building. After a moment of squinting, Fiyero clenched his fists. "Shit." It was Grommetik. "That damned tik-tok thing…" He wondered if he should grab something to hit the thing with, but he didn't have time. He rushed out of the building.

As he got closer, he observed Grommetik stumble into the building. Why was it here? Fiyero cursed himself. It had to be. Morrible knew that Dillamond's notebook was missing and she was investigating to see if anything in the old lab had been taken, too. This was his fault. All along he'd worried about Elphaba getting herself caught and now he had basically caused it himself. It was two minutes later when he finally got into the building.

It was dark, extremely dark, but he could hear that awful ticking and it was easy to figure out where it was coming from. The hunting skills he'd had drilled into him as a teen were paying off. He moved towards it, looking for some sort of weapon. But his eyes weren't on the ground in front of him and he tripped over a broken chair and came crashing to the floor. His ankle was killing him, and he reached to touch it when the ticking got closer, too close. He stared up into a clock face and made to grab the leg of the chair that had tripped him.

Grommetik's spring shot out and tore through his arm and he hissed in pain, feeling the blood begin to drip down his forearm. He managed to pull himself up, limping slightly, and swung the wooden leg as hard as he could, but he underestimated the clock's height and missed completely. At this point he heard faint footsteps running towards the room and he hoped it wasn't Morrible trying to find her precious little minion. Meanwhile, the clock tore into the vein along his ankle with its twisted hands. Blood began to flow too quickly and he fell, feeling very lightheaded…

All of the sudden he heard words and with a flash of light Grommetik was struck by something across the room. He could smell burnt metal as the electricity shot through the clock and it shook and collapsed in nuts and bolts to the ground near him, parts of it still sizzling with live electricity. And then he heard her scream. "Oh sweet Oz, Fiyero!"

Elphaba appeared above him as his vision began to fade. He looked up at her. "It was coming here, and I had to stop it… save you… getting caught…"

She hushed him. "Fiyero stop." She tore open his shirt and wrapped it around the wound on his ankle. "You'll bleed out." She tightened the cloth.

"What did you do?" He asked weakly.

"You know what I did."

"The book."

"Yes, it was from the book. Now shut up like I told you to."

"Morrible will be on her way when it doesn't come back…" He protested.

Elphaba paused. "We need to get out of here." She looked towards the door. "You can't walk on that ankle; it'll make the wound worse. Fiyero?"

He had blacked out.

"Oh great." She looked around, panicked. Then she had an idea. "Sweet Lurline, let me be strong enough for this." Elphaba had never asked for any help from any religious figure before, and she didn't exactly mean it then, but it was all she knew to say. She pulled Fiyero over to a thin table near the door and then she chanted the spell that had levitated that rock back at Kiamo Ko.

Her head pounded with a pain she had never felt in her life, but the table lifted in the air slightly. It was just small enough to get out the door. She pushed with all her strength to move it, watching closely and hoping it wouldn't tilt. As they got out the door she thought quickly where to find cover. Bushes and trees had grown over the broken down building and she retreated behind those and set the table down. She held her head as pain shot through her and she clenched her fists so tight they bled. What in all Oz was she to do now? She knew nothing about how to treat his wounds after tying them up. The only person she knew who had any medical knowledge was Nanny. But how could she leave him there? She had to.

She rested a hand on his cheek and his eyes opened slightly. "Yero, I have to leave you here to get help. Do not make a sound, promise me?"

He might have nodded. She wasn't sure. She chanted what she could remember of the concealing spell, which merely softened the edges around Fiyero so that he was only slightly harder to find. It was the best she could do. And then she ran so hard her throat burned, across the campus and up the stairs. She banged on the door to Nessa's room.

Nanny appeared at the door. "Why must you knock so loud, child?"

"Nanny, come with me _now_. I need your help. It's an emergency."

"What is going on?"

"Please, I don't have time to explain now. Just follow me." Elphaba had to slow her pace to accommodate the old woman and her head was still buzzing. When they finally got there, she pulled Nanny into the bushes. The concealing spell had long worn off. "Help him."

Nanny did not ask questions. She knelt beside Fiyero and examined the wound on his arm. "This is deep, but it should heal eventually." Then she turned her attention to his ankle, which was swollen beneath the makeshift bandage. She made to unwrap it.

"Don't. He's bleeding from the vein, Nanny. I tied it there. It was the only thing I knew to do."

"The swelling is a problem. It looks like he has a pretty bad sprain, and that's going to irritate the wound if it's beneath a bandage tied that tight. I have to unravel it for just a moment so I can place it in a better spot."

Elphaba closed her eyes as Nanny took off the bandages, not wanting to see the blood again. She had never been squeamish, but this was just not something she could handle. After a moment, she peeked her eyes open again and Nanny was finishing replacing the bandage. "Is he going to be okay?"

"I believe so. But he needs to regain consciousness first. He needs water now."

Elphaba knew there was an old pump inside the building, but she couldn't risk going inside for that long. Instead she merely grabbed a beaker and ran to Suicide Canal to get the water. When she returned she handed the water to Nanny, who poured it gently onto Fiyero's face and into his open mouth. "Nanny, um, we need to get him out of here. He's not supposed to be here and someone is going to come looking soon, I just know it."

Nanny looked as though she was going to ask a question and thought the better of it. "He needs to lie down somewhere and since here is obviously not a good idea..."

Fiyero's eyes opened. "Elphaba…"

"Shhhh, Fiyero. Do not talk." She flicked her eyes toward Nanny, hoping he'd understand despite his injury. When Nanny wasn't looking she mouthed: "I love you."

"We need you to walk." Nanny said simply.

"Are you crazy? That'll only make him bleed harder."

"Not with the swelling."

"Fiyero, can you walk?"

"I can try." He breathed.

"Lean on me," she said gently, "we're going over to Crage."

They must've made quite a sight walking about campus, but lucky for them only a quarter of the students were back and it was getting pretty dark. Elphaba worried that if anyone saw this and told Morrible, she'd suspect for sure. And it wasn't like it was hard to tell who they were. But there was no other option. Nanny looked at her when they got inside. "We're going to need to help him up the stairs."

"How?"

"He's going to have to lean on both of us and hop."

"For eight flights of stairs?"

"Unless you have a better idea."

Fiyero didn't say anything the entire way up. He breathed heavily and wavered occasionally, but Elphaba only gripped him harder. When they finally made it to the room, Glinda almost screamed.

"Oh sweet Oz! Elphie, what happened?"

As they laid Fiyero on Elphaba's bed, Nanny turned to Elphaba. "That's a good question."


	23. Chapter 23: Secrets

**AN: I'm starting to think that Nanny knows what's going on between Elphaba and Fiyero and is only keeping her mouth shut because she either doesn't care or finds it interesting. She doesn't much care for what Frex wants and she is only going to do something if she absolutely has to and it's so obvious that she can't pretend to ignore it. The character of Nanny has always eluded me. I think she's unlike the rest of the adults in the novel. So I'm never quite sure how she would react to certain things. I think Nanny in this story finds Frex and Nessa's obsession with religion a little trying and therefore doesn't much care if Elphaba is breaking the rules so long as she doesn't get hurt. Not sure, though. Seriously, the character does what she wants. I don't decide.**

**I'm actually on chapter 31. But I try not to update a gazillion times a week (although I certainly am updating plenty). I also don't want this story to end…**

**Chapter 23: Secrets**

Elphaba's eyes darted from her roommate to Nanny. Then she glanced at Fiyero on the bed. He looked like he wanted to talk, but she put a finger to her lips. He seemed to get the gist. "Nanny, you must promise never to say anything no matter what you are asked or we could all be in grave danger."

Nanny sighed and nodded. "Get on with it, Fabala."

Elphaba lowered her eyes. "Sometimes I sneak into that old abandoned building for some privacy. But there's also some very important stuff in there," Elphaba thought about the notebook she'd hidden along her back when she'd heard the commotion, "and if anyone knew I was in there, I could get in a lot of trouble.

"Fiyero has a view of the old lab from his window. He saw Morrible's tik-tok servant heading into the building and he knew I could be in danger. He ran after me, but the clock thing attacked him. I found them and smashed the damned thing while it was about to strike him. I dragged him onto that table and pulled him out into the bushes. But if Morrible comes looking for that thing and finds it dead, she's going to be suspicious. That's why we needed to get out of there."

Nanny was not appeased. "What sort of important stuff is in there, Elphaba?"

She sighed. "The old science professor was doing some research that Morrible didn't approve of. She's been searching for a specific piece of it in there for a long time, but she can't be seen going in there herself so she sends her little slave. She'd never find what she wants in there, considering I have it." Elphaba pulled the notebook out from beneath her skirt and blouse along her back.

"Elphaba, you're crazy!" Glinda exclaimed. "That's dangerous."

"You think I didn't know that?" She snapped. "If this gets lost or confiscated, nothing will ever change. This research could change Oz. I can't let it be destroyed."

"You always were so headstrong." Nanny grumbled. "I can't say I approve."

"Well go ahead and tell Morrible; get me killed." Elphaba challenged.

"I said I didn't approve; I didn't say I'd report you. But if I ever catch you sneaking in there again, I will have your father pull you out of here in an instant. And why was that foolish boy stupid enough to follow you?"

"He has some sort of hero complex." Elphaba glared at Fiyero when he looked like he was going to protest. "He's always trying to stop us girls from getting into trouble. It irritates me to no end." In the corner of her eye, she saw Fiyero's lips turn up in a slight grin.

"If you say so." Nanny did not seem satisfied. "I need to check on Nessa. There's nothing much you can do for him now, he seems stable, but he really shouldn't be walking for two or three days."

"How do we get him back to his dorm?"

"He can stay here, Elphie," Glinda said brightly. "I have extra blankets. You can have my bed and I'll sleep on the floor."

"Glinda, that's not necessary."

"So long as the both of you are here, that actually isn't a bad idea." Nanny grunted. "He's just lucky classes don't start for five days." With that, she left.

Glinda looked at Elphaba. "What were you thinking?"

"I've done that hundreds of times, Glinda. I don't know what changed."

"I do," Fiyero mumbled, "I stole the notebook. She sent it to look for it."

"You really think so?"

He nodded.

"Why'd you follow me? I can take care of myself, Yero. You almost got yourself killed."

"And you think it wouldn't have killed you? I know you think you're invincible with those spells, Fae, but if that thing had come up on you when you weren't paying attention, it could've slit your throat in seconds."

"What spells?" Glinda looked at Elphaba.

Elphaba put her hands on her hips and threw an icy glare at Fiyero. But a look at his face, so pale (well, for him, anyway), the wound on his arm and the bandage on his leg softened her. "Why is it that I always get into so much trouble when you're around?"

"You'd be in a lot more if I wasn't." He tried to sit up and seemed to think the better of it.

"If you ever do something this stupid again, my love, I will never forgive you." Elphaba locked the door and sat at the head of the bed, placing Fiyero's head in her lap, brushing his matted hair away from his face.

"I could get used to this." He smiled up at her.

"I will kill you."

"I'd die happy."

Glinda interrupted. "What spells, Elphie?"

Elphaba pulled a cord from around her neck that had a key hanging from it and tossed it to Glinda. "The bottom drawer in my desk."

Glinda opened the drawer. "What is this?"

"It's a book of spells. We found it at Kiamo Ko. His father thinks it may have belonged to the ancients."

"The Grimmerie?" Glinda traced the cover.

"You can read it?"

"Sort of." She opened the book. "Elphaba, if I'm understanding this correctly, these spells are really powerful…"

"They're how I really killed that evil clock."

"Elphaba, you need to join my class."

"What?"

"Morrible's class."

Elphaba wrinkled her nose. "No way in hell."

"You don't have to tell her about the book. I know you don't like her, but she knows what she's talking about."

"I don't need her."

"You say there are spells in there you don't understand yet." Fiyero pointed out.

"See?" Glinda said. "Elphaba, it can't hurt. Getting on her good side might be exactly the thing you want to do. What is it they say? 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.'"

"She's right," Fiyero said in a singsong voice.

"What? I'm supposed to go up to her and just say 'I know sorcery all of the sudden.'"

"No," Glinda said, "but I can. I can tell her that you were going through my books and you really seemed to have a knack for it. There are only four other students. If you can do anything in this book, Elphaba, you deserve to be in that class."

"If you insist." Elphaba looked over Fiyero's arm. "We need to clean that. It's not deadly but I don't want it getting infected."

Glinda got up and got a damp washcloth. She almost handed it to Elphaba. "Oh, you can't…"

"Can you?"

Glinda nodded and wiped the blood from Fiyero's arm.

"Do you see the brown bottle in the drawer you just took the book from?" Elphaba asked.

Glinda went back to Elphaba's desk. "Yes. And a green one. What is it?"

"Leave the green one alone," she said harshly, "but bring me the brown one." Elphaba opened the bottle and the smell made it clear what it was.

"Bourbon?"

"For this purpose only." Elphaba poured some on another cloth and began to rub it along the wound. Fiyero hissed. "Oh, stop being a baby. This is for your own good."

"Do you see how she treats me?" Fiyero mock pouted at Glinda.

"She's right. It's for your own good." Glinda laughed. "And I see how she treats you. She treats you a lot better than she even treats Nessa."

"Fiyero, stop whining." Elphaba shook her head. "She's not going to feel sorry for you. She thinks we're too cute to have anything wrong in our relationship."

"I like to think there isn't anything wrong."

"Well, aside from the fact that we're hiding it from everyone, you almost got yourself killed and you drive me crazy, sure, there's nothing wrong."

"I drive you crazy?"

"In a good way." She leaned down and kissed him on the nose and ran her hands along his cheek. "But that was really very stupid."

"Elphaba, that thing could've killed you."

"It could've killed you."

"I don't care. I wasn't going to just let it sneak up on you and rip you apart. I love you, Elphaba."

Elphaba sighed. "I love you, too. Now it's getting late. Move over, I want to sleep."  
>"Elphie! That's scandalous!" Glinda exclaimed.<p>

"He's been begging for me to sleep with him. I mean, not like that… oh, whatever. Glinda, the door is locked. If Nanny comes back she'll have to knock. I'm not going to do anything – not that he can move much to begin with. I just…" Her face fell. "I just want to be close to him."

"It's fine, Elphie. I was just teasing."

"I'm going to go change." Elphaba hid herself in her closet and pulled on along chaste nightdress. She came out and braided her hair behind her, climbing into bed next to Fiyero. She whispered to him. "Yero my hero, please never do that again."


	24. Chapter 24: Caution

**AN: Okay, starting Thursday morning, I am driving to my new home in Texas. That means I'll be on the road for two days. And getting settled for a day or two after that AT LEAST. That's why I got so far ahead, so that I could post anyway if I get set up but don't have time to write. I am going to hate not writing.**

**Chapter 24: Caution**

The next morning, Nanny knocked on the door. Elphaba leapt out of bed, shushing Fiyero, and ran to the door. "It's early, Nanny."

"I wanted to check on your _friend_. Did I just hear bedsprings creak when you came to answer the door?" Nanny poked her head into the room.

"You did." Glinda said from her closet. "It was me."

Elphaba looked behind her. There was a ruffled blanket and pillow on the floor that there hadn't been a moment ago. Glinda had thrown them there as she'd answered the door to make it look like Elphaba had, in fact, slept on the floor. She turned back to Nanny. "Come in. I think he's sleeping, but I didn't check. He's been pretty quiet."

Nanny walked into the room and threw a look at the blanket on the floor. She seemed satisfied. She bent down beside Fiyero and looked at his arm. "Smart girl, you cleaned the wound. I had forgotten that yesterday evening."

"I didn't want him bleeding all over my bed." Elphaba shrugged.

Next Nanny examined his ankle. "The swelling's gone down and that's a good sign. I think we can remove the bandage now and instead elevate his leg on a pillow. Put something cold on the swelling." She unwrapped the bandage, which was dirty with dried blood. "Elphaba, bring me some of that bourbon you hide in your desk."

"How did you know?"

"I saw you pack it. Now bring it to me." Nanny took the bottle from Elphaba and poured it on the cleaner parts of the bandage, bringing it to the large, deep gash on Fiyero's ankle.

Elphaba watched Fiyero clench both his fists and jaw, closing his eyes at the sting. "Should we put something clean on it? Just in case it opens up?"

"That's a good idea. Do you have anything you're willing to give up in your closet, dearie?"

Elphaba thought about handing Nanny the pink blouse Glinda had gotten her for her birthday, but she didn't think Glinda would like that very much. She went to her closet and began looking through her clothes.

"Don't worry about it. Here." Glinda handed Nanny a large maroon sweater. "My aunt sent it to me last Lurlinemas. I've never worn it."

Nanny took the sweater from Glinda and looked at it. "Even I can see why." She tore it in half and wrapped the first half around Fiyero's wound. She placed the other half on the bedside table. "You should change it again tomorrow morning." She left.

"You just saved me from a lot of trouble." Elphaba said to Glinda, gesturing to the blanket on the floor.

"I know." Glinda smiled.

"Thank you."

"Fiyero," Glinda said, looking over at him, "you can't sit in those clothes much longer."

"Elphaba, you know where my room is." Fiyero said. "The key is in my pocket…"

"Get it yourself." Elphaba folded her arms across her chest.

Fiyero reached his uninjured arm around his body and dug his hand into his pocket, finally retrieving the key. "Can you get me something to change into?"

"I have no idea what you should wear!"

"I'm not really going to leave the room, am I?"

"Fine." Elphaba left the room.

Glinda sat on her bed and looked at Fiyero. "You saved her life."

"I don't think she's happy about it."

"Fiyero, she's just upset. You risked your life for hers, and she doesn't think she's worth that. It made her uncomfortable."

"But she is worth that."

"That's sweet, Fiyero. But you know her. And really, you could've gotten killed. I don't think she feels very good about that, either. If you had died, that would've been on her conscience. She'd never forgive herself. I don't think she realized that you'd do that much for her. And it scared her, Fiyero. Now she's not just putting herself in danger, she's putting you in danger, too."

"I love her, Glinda."

"Believe me, I can tell." Glinda smiled at him. "You know she doesn't take well to affection. And that was affection to the tenth degree."

He nodded. "What can I do?"

"That's not for me to tell you. I don't know, Fiyero. What do you want from her?"

"I want her. And I want her to be happy."

"What do you mean by saying you 'want her?'" Glinda eyed him suspiciously.

Fiyero rolled his eyes. "I want to be with her. Now. Years from now. Years from that. And yes, Glinda, I want her like that, too. That comes with everything else."

Glinda flushed. "You're a good person. Just do what you want to do. She'd hate it if you tried to change for her. She'd probably hate it if you tried to do much of anything for her. Like save her life. Although I appreciate that you did that. Sometimes, though she may not want to believe it, she needs a little help, and today, she needed a lot of it. Thank you for saving her."

As Elphaba reached Fiyero's room, Boq came walking up to her. "Hey, mind if I talk to Fiyero, too?"

"Um, he's not here. He's in my room."

"It's pretty early…"

"He got into some trouble yesterday and he's a little hurt." Elphaba's eyes narrowed. "Keep that to yourself, please. I have to get him a few things."

"Here, I'll help. I want to come to your dorm then and make sure he's okay." Boq watched Elphaba unlock the door to Fiyero's room.

"Glinda and I are taking good care of him. But you can come. It'll make Nanny a little less suspicious if you come to 'visit' me. And Fiyero."

"Is he okay? What happened?"

Elphaba looked at Boq and bit her lip. "He… he did something stupid."

"What? Did he fall on his ass unpacking?"

"No, Boq. He did it for me. He did it protecting me, even though I didn't need protection. And he almost got himself killed." Elphaba sat down on Fiyero's bed and held her head in her hands.

"How…?"

"I don't want to go into it. But whatever you might hear in the next few days, it's not true. Or at least not fully. Do not mention Fiyero's injury to anyone." Elphaba stood up and went through Fiyero's drawers, grabbing what she assumed was a pair of pajamas, some brown pants and a green shirt. "He's such an idiot."

"For protecting you?" Boq seemed confused.

"For thinking I'm worth protecting!" Elphaba's voice cracked. "If I hadn't been there, he'd have been dead."

"If you hadn't been there, he wouldn't have been, either, from what you were saying." Boq pointed out. "Are you sure you didn't need his protection? I don't know what happened, but…"

"I don't think so. I'll never know. But, I mean, maybe I could've been ambushed, but… Boq," she wiped a tear from her eye, "it scares me."

"That he tried to save you?"

"That he thinks his life is worth risking in order to save mine."

"Elphaba, can't you be grateful that he tried to help you? It just means he loves you."

"But if he died for me, Boq, I would never get over that."

Boq gaped at her for a moment. "You know, Elphie, I've never seen you this upset, even when Nessa was sick a few years back."

Elphaba looked up at him, tenderness in her eyes. "I love him, Boq. And I knew that. But the way I love him isn't what I thought I knew. This is too much. This is more than I thought it was. I'm suddenly afraid that I might not want to live without him at all. Ever."

"That's normal. Well, at least I think so." Boq squeezed Elphaba's shoulder as the two of the exited the room. "I know you aren't used to normal, but that's how it feels."

"But what do I do if something I do does get him hurt?"

"Don't do whatever that something is in the first place."

Elphaba was quiet for a moment. "What if I want that something, too?"

"Then you have a choice to make, Elphie. And it's not my job to make it for you. But I'll tell you what I think. He loves you. And obviously you love him. That's enough for me."

Elphaba was silent until they entered the eighth floor hallway. "Boq, it's really so nice of you to come over. I've wanted to see you." She talked loud enough so that anyone in the nearby rooms could hear. And that was the point. She knew Nanny could hear just about anything through a door (she thanked Oz that she was a few doors down from her and not next door). She opened her door. "Boq wanted to stop by."

Fiyero's leg was propped up on a pillow. "It's not as bad as it looks, I swear."

Boq winced merely looking at Fiyero. "I hope so."

The two boys talked for the next twenty minutes and Glinda made up some excuse to leave the room again. When Boq finally left, the tension in the room finally eased.

Elphaba climbed back onto her bed beside Fiyero and curled herself against him, hiding her head in his neck for a moment, breathing deeply. "Fiyero, I'm afraid. What you did yesterday made me realize how much I love you. And I was so afraid to lose you, more afraid than I thought I'd ever be. The way I've been living my life causes trouble, Fiyero, and it doesn't just cause trouble for me. I can't be responsible for that."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm done sneaking into buildings and stealing science equipment and killing tick-tock creatures. I'm not going to stop my research, nor am I going to stop advocating for change. I've been so careless because it's only been my life that I'd be risking. But now it's yours, too."

Fiyero pressed his face into her hair and kissed the top of her head. "Don't change for me."

"I'm not changing for you. I'm still doing what I believe in. I'm just going to be a little more cautious. And I'm doing this for me, because to lose you because of something I did is not something I can live with." She kissed him slowly. When she pulled away she kept her face just inches from his. "I love you so much. And you need to be careful, too."


	25. Chapter 25: Extended Stay

**AN: Glad I wrote ahead. I have thought lots about this fic today, but haven't been able to write. I get carsick if I try to read/write or basically do anything that isn't listening to music. I might get some writing done tonight at the hotel, but I don't write this kind of stuff well when I'm in the same room with my mother…**

**Chapter 25: Extended Stay**

Elphaba was hesitant to let Fiyero leave at the end of the three days he'd stayed there. "You're still limping a little bit, Fiyero. I know you can hide the cut down your arm with long sleeves, but I'd like it if you just stay one more day so you don't make it so obvious that you were injured."

"Who am I to say 'no' to that?" Fiyero grinned at her. "I couldn't refuse another night in your bed."

"Why do you insist on making it sound so inappropriate, Fiyero?"

"Because it's all I can do to keep from going crazy when I haven't been able to do much of anything but read your old schoolbooks for the past three days." He got up and limped across the room to Elphaba and put a hand on her waist. "Although I will admit, if I had to be stuck in the same room for this long with anyone, it might as well be you."

"Glinda lives here, too."

"She's only here half the time. You've stayed here with me for the most part." He kissed her nose.

"Only to make sure you didn't try and get up too soon and do something stupid."

"So that's the only reason?" He pretended to pout. "It had nothing to do with wanting to spend time with me?"

"Oh, stop twisting my words." She waved him back to her bed. "You need to prop that foot up."

"I also need to actually walk around to get used to walking so that I don't continue to limp."

"Fine." Elphaba walked away from him, instead. She plopped down on her bed, knowing he'd probably follow.

He did follow her. "Are you going to make me chase you around the room just to kiss you?"

"You said you needed to walk around." She teased. Elphaba kissed him softly. "I'm just helping."

Glinda began to unlock the door and Elphaba jumped into her desk chair in case Glinda had brought anyone with her. Her roommate smiled at the two of them as she closed the door behind her. "Hey, you two."

"Thank you for picking up his books for him. I didn't want him limping all the way across campus and then limping back with all those books." Elphaba said.

"I had a little change from what you gave me, Fiyero. It wasn't a problem." Glinda placed a few coins and the books on the bedside table.

Fiyero smiled at Glinda. "I appreciate it. I could've done it myself…"

"You'd have looked suspicious. We can't have that. Morrible hasn't announced anything about her precious little contraption being 'killed' or something of the like, but she's found it by now. She's probably trying to see if someone comes out of the woodwork." Elphaba lectured.

"Oh, Elphie," Glinda looked up at her, "I just remembered. I talked to Madame Morrible this morning. She said you can attend the first class and she will evaluate you to see what your skill set is."

"Anything I should know?"

"You'll be fine."

Elphaba shrugged. She moved back to the bed and sat beside Fiyero again. "I've gone over the stuff in your books well enough, I'd hope. I certainly can't show her anything I've done that's in the Grimmerie or she'd be much too curious."

Glinda nodded. "So, Fiyero, when is she walking you back to your dorm?"

"Tomorrow."

She raised her eyebrows.

Elphaba threw her hands in the air. "He's still limping. I don't want someone seeing him. He's doing much better and I'm sure by tomorrow he'll be fine."

"Whoever thought you'd be so protective?"

"I'm not! I just won't have him get in trouble and possibly killed for something he did, however stupid, because of me."

Fiyero put his arm around her. "If you don't want me to stay, I am perfectly fine going back to my dorm."

"No, no, it's fine, Fiyero. I was actually going to spend the night downstairs with Pfanee and Shen-Shen. We're going to have chocolates and talk about boys. I was about to invite Elphie."

"You seriously thought I'd go?" Elphaba laughed.

"No. But you are my friend and I figured I'd at least ask." Glinda grinned.

Elphaba paused for a moment. This meant that she and Fiyero would be spending the night completely alone in her room. Part of her wished that she hadn't asked him to stay another night. It wasn't that she didn't trust him to be respectful, but she didn't know what she would do alone in a room with Fiyero for an entire night. "Well, at this point asking would be useless."

"I know. I need to grab a few things. I promise to lock the door on my way out." She winked.

"Glinda!"

"What? I'm just saying that if Nanny came in here and found him still here and me gone, she might not be very pleased." Glinda tossed a pink nightie into a bag and grabbed a bag of makeup that was bigger than the nightie. She stood in front of her closet trying to figure out what to wear the next day. "Are you uncomfortable, Elphie? I can stay here."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. Asking her that in front of Fiyero was like not asking at all. If Elphaba wanted to say that she was uncomfortable, she wouldn't say it in front of him. But she didn't want to, anyway. At least, she didn't think she did. "I'm fine, Glinda."

The blonde grabbed a lilac dress off of a hanger, then rifled through her drawers for her undergarments. She threw them into the bag, as well. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Elphaba sighed and looked at Fiyero as the door closed (and locked) behind Glinda. "That was interesting. Seriously, I wonder if she needs help sometimes."

"I'm sure she wonders the same thing about you." He teased. After a pause he spoke. "I love you, Elphaba."

"That was random."

"Perhaps. I haven't said it in a while."

"Your definition of 'a while' is since yesterday?"

"Basically."

Elphaba smiled at him sweetly. "Do you want to look through some of your books? We start classes the day after tomorrow."

"Well, I think I'll look through my modern Ozian politics book so that I can see all the things I'm going to have to ask you for help on." He reached for his books.

Elphaba shook her head at him, grinning. "You do not need my help. You just pretend to be stupid. You realize that I don't find it attractive, right?"

"So you'd be even more attracted to me if I stopped asking to study?"

"We can study, but not because you need my help. We can study because studying together helps me go over the material, and because we still need excuses to be together."

Fiyero opened his book. "Are you going to read, too?"

"Do I ever not?" Elphaba's books were already on the floor next to the bed, most of them already at least halfway read. She grabbed the same book Fiyero was reading and curled up beside him happily.

After a few hours, Fiyero stood up and stretched. "I'm going to walk around the room for a few minutes before bed."

Elphaba giggled. "You look so determined when you walk. It's pretty funny. In a cute way."

"Why, Elphaba Thropp, I never thought I'd hear you say the word 'cute,' especially in reference to me." Fiyero walked over to Elphaba's dresser, where his pajamas sat. "Now, I need to change. Should I go hide in the closet again?"

"I need to change, too. I'll hide in the closet. It's my closet, anyway." Elphaba quickly pulled on her nightdress in the dark of her closet. She hugged herself as she stepped back into the room.

Fiyero smiled at her. "I'm kind of sad that this is the last night I have an excuse to sleep next to you."

"Oh, hush." She sat down on her bed and began to curl up.

Fiyero lay down next to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Did I thank you for saving my life?"

"You may have. But you saved me, too." Elphaba kissed him.

Fiyero ran a hand down her neck and climbed over her, pressing his lips against hers fervently. "What would we do without each other?"

"Have a lot less drama," Elphaba teased, running her fingers along his bare chest. The weight of his body sent warm blood through her veins. His hand was at the hem of her nightgown and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

His fingers crept up her calves, her knees, her thighs, tugging at her clothes and he smiled against her mouth as she shifted slightly so that her legs were open the tiniest bit. Fiyero ran a finger along her flesh, hot to the touch. "I love you."

"I love you, too, but if you try to put any body part that I can't see right now where your fingers are, I'm sleeping in Glinda's bed."

He laughed genuinely. "I am perfectly fine with that." Fiyero caught his breath as she threw her head back against the pillows, feeling her skin tingle beneath the caress of his fingers.

Elphaba closed her eyes, feeling Fiyero's fingers exploring her, desire pooling below her abdomen. A small whimper escaped her and she clenched her fists. The quick gentle movements of his hand sent her head spinning and she'd never imagined such pleasure existed. "Fiyero, you're driving me crazy," she murmured breathlessly.

"Well, you're always driving me crazy every time I think of you, so I thought I'd return the favor." He looked at her eyes with a lopsided grin. "Just a question… does my tongue count as something you can see?"

Elphaba swallowed hard and nodded. "You're not serious…?"

"Oh, I am." He pulled back and pulled her nightdress up, gently pressing her legs further apart with his hands as he lowered himself to her. He placed a hand on her side, feeling her thighs trembling beneath his touch.

Elphaba's eyes widened as it became very clear that he was, indeed, incredibly serious. Sensation ripped through her body and she moaned softly. His hand tightened on her hip and his kisses burned her flesh. "Sweet Oz…" What felt like an painfully tempting and pleasurable hour later (but really couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes, she thought), she felt a rush of pleasure tear along her veins and she bit her lip so hard it bled. "Fiyero, that's… that's enough," she could barely breathe.

He looked back at her. "Did I bite you earlier?" He gestured to her lip.

"I did," she flushed. Her eyes traveled along his cotton pants as she put herself back together. "Can you see my hands?"

Fiyero merely grinned.


	26. Chapter 26: Morrible's Tests

**AN: Okay, I'm at the new place. Not quite settled yet… lots of shopping to do and lots of unpacking. Still, I did write a little the other night, and I'll probably write some this morning before the boyfriend wakes up. Which reminds me, I do worry about this, because I have a tendency to want to write this stuff when I am either single or far away from the boyfriend for more than a week. Since we were long distance until yesterday, writing was an issue. Hopefully it won't be an issue later, either.**

**Chapter 26: Morrible's Tests**

Elphaba was walking back from her first day of politics class with Fiyero when the two of them ran into Madame Morrible. Elphaba glanced at Fiyero's arm to make sure his wound was covered and stared at him as he came to a stop, worried he might still show the slightest hint of a limp. "Hello, Madame Morrible."

"Greetings, Ms. Elphaba. Glinda informed me that I would be seeing you this afternoon in class. I was just going to stop by your room to ask if you could arrive several minutes early so that you can demonstrate your talent."

"I would be glad to."

Fiyero smiled at Elphaba, clearly amused that she was behaving so politely to Madame Morrible. "Good morning, Madame Morrible."

"Morning, Master Fiyero. It is good to see that you have made friends with Ms. Elphaba. One of the things I like best about Shiz is to see students from all over the place becoming friends. The diversity on this campus pleases me greatly."

Elphaba had to bite her already bruised lip to keep from snorting.

Fiyero nodded. "I have made many friends from many places here. I like it here very much."

"I hope you take your experience back to your kingdom with you when you graduate."

"I will." Fiyero eyed Elphaba. He was hoping to take more than just the experience. He wanted to take home his queen, too. He blinked and shook his head. "I hope that the friendships I have made here will benefit me throughout my life."

"I'm sure they will. Did you know that Ms. Elphaba is the Third Thropp Descending? That means she's to be Eminent Thropp upon graduation. I'm sure it'll be extremely useful for the two of you to stay in touch."

"Oh, I intend to stay in touch with Elphaba. She's an incredibly smart young woman."

"That she is." Morrible smiled down at Elphaba. "I will see you early this afternoon, Ms. Elphaba. Have a good lunch."

Elphaba made a face as Morrible walked away. "You sounded like such a kiss-up."

"You acted pretty polite yourself."

"'I hope that the friendships I have made here will benefit me greatly throughout my life.' Seriously, Fiyero?" Elphaba laughed.

"I was pretty surprised you didn't snap at her little diversity speech."

"I have self-control, Fiyero. Although it was hard not to at least laugh at that. But I need her to think I'm on her side right now. You know that."

"I do. But I also know sometimes you get caught up in the heat of the moment when it comes to certain subjects."

"You're probably right about that. Look, Fiyero, I have to meet Glinda in the room for lunch. She was going to go over a few spells with me one last time before class."

"Come see me this evening?"

"I shouldn't slip out after the first day of classes. I'll see you later this week." Elphaba headed back towards Crage.

"Love you…" He called after her.

She turned around, smiling, and put a finger to her lips, mouthing the words back at him. Elphaba smiled as she made her way back to her room. For once in her life, it felt like she might actually be happy, genuinely happy. She was learning what she needed to learn. She had friends. She had Fiyero. The only thing that was missing was justice for the Animals. Her face fell at the thought. Dr. Dillamond… If only he were still alive. Maybe he'd know what to do and where to go from here. Things were too easy for her, and she knew they weren't for everyone, and that irked her. She wanted to change the world. Maybe she wanted too much. There was only so much she could do. But she had no idea where her priorities should lie, or where they did lie.

After lunch with Glinda, Elphaba took a deep breath and headed over to the small building in which Morrible taught her sorcery class. The building housed several arts classrooms, as well, along with Morrible's office. Madame Morrible was already in the classroom when Elphaba stepped inside.

"Ah, Ms. Elphaba! There you are. Come, come. I have a small list of spells I would like you to demonstrate for me in this beginner's book." Morrible handed Elphaba the book Glinda had given Elphaba. "Let's start with something simple, eh? I would like you to light that small candle on the desk."

Elphaba didn't need to look down at the book. She chanted to herself and wound her hands around, pointing at the candle. It lit up.

"Good, good. Next, I want you to change the color of that piece of paper to the color of your choosing."

Elphaba again muttered some words and the paper on the desk turned a blue strikingly similar to the color of the diamonds on Fiyero's skin. She doubted Morrible realized this, but she flushed a little.

"Impressive. Only one spell left. Please tie that string in a knot."

Elphaba once more chanted and waved her arms as though she was tying a knot. From across the room, the little white string was tied into a lovely bow.

"Ms. Elphaba, why did you not tell me about this talent of yours earlier? You performed those spells better than some of my third year students who have taken class with me since arriving here."

"I didn't know I could do it. I, um, accidentally took one of Glinda's books with me once and when I opened it I just tried it for fun, and it worked." Elphaba lied, looking Morrible straight in the eyes.

"Well, I'm certainly glad I placed you in a room with Ms. Glinda, then, because if not, we may never have discovered your affinity for sorcery!"

Elphaba cringed at the word "we." Morrible was already taking credit for Elphaba's skill. It didn't surprise her, though. That was why she had to hide the extent of it from her. She could never know about the Grimmerie. Never. "Glinda is a good friend and roommate."

"Yes. Who'd have thought the two of you would've taken to each other so well? As I said to Master Fiyero earlier, it truly does please me to see people from different parts of Oz bonding." Morrible smiled, the creases in her face deepening. "Let me get you a more complex book to work on, something akin to what Ms. Glinda is working on. She's a rather talented sorceress herself, you know."

"Oh, I know." Elphaba watched Morrible leave the room. She walked over to the desk where all the items she'd had to enchant had been placed and fingered the blue paper. How had that happened? She hadn't even been thinking about Fiyero and yet… she blinked several times to clear her head. That boy was getting to her head more than she ever thought she'd let him.

"How'd it go?" Glinda stood in the doorway.

"You're early." Elphaba smiled at her roommate.

"I wanted to see how you did."

"She's getting me a more complicated book. I would assume that's a good sign."

Glinda jumped up and down with a little squeal. "I knew you'd do great, Elphie!"

Morrible returned to the room. "Oh, how lovely to see you Ms. Glinda. I was just telling Elphaba how glad I was that the two of you talented young ladies ended up as roommates. I must have had some sort of psychic intuition when I placed the two of you in the same room!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes at Glinda when Morrible wasn't looking.

Glinda nodded at Elphaba and replied to Morrible. "Elphaba is really smart."

"I've heard that twice today, now. Master Fiyero was also praising Ms. Elphaba's intelligence when I stopped the two of them in the quad today."

Glinda raised her eyebrows at Elphaba, a knowing smile on her face. "Oh, you'd hear that from everyone. Fiyero and Boq are always begging to study with Elphaba. She's the smartest person I know at Shiz."

"You have gotten remarkable marks in all of your classes, Ms. Elphaba. And you as well, Ms. Glinda. The Wizard has been looking for talented young adults such as yourselves and he asked me personally to send them his way. How would you like to take a trip to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard between after this term during the winter holidays?"

"That'd be wonderful!" Glinda exclaimed, grabbing Elphaba's hand. "It would be an honor."

"It would." Elphaba agreed. "I'd be proud to represent you and Shiz."

"Well, keep that in mind then. If the two of you continue to display such intelligence and talent as you have been these first two years, I will certainly be sending you to the City come winter." Morrible handed Elphaba a book. "Here is the book I was looking for. Now, if the two of you will excuse me, I have to go make sure my lessons are prepared for our upcoming class." Morrible left the room again.

Glinda turned to Elphaba and giggled helplessly. "Can you believe it, Elphie? The Emerald City!"

"I have to admit that it would be quite an experience."

"We better keep working hard! I'll bet your father will have to be proud of you if you get to meet the Wizard!"

"Oh, somehow I doubt that."

"Well, at least your sister and Nanny will be. And Fiyero, for sure. And what was that about you two running into her?"

"She came up to us while we were leaving class, babbling about how happy she was that people from all around Oz were connecting here at Shiz."

"She certainly seems to love this place."

"I think what she really loves is being in charge of it."


	27. Chapter 27: Hero Complex

**AN: So, I'm actually on chapter 36… but I'm trying not to post obnoxiously fast. And if I follow my outline, I'm almost done. I'm not happy with that. I hate ending these stories. I could make it last longer, but I don't think it would work as well. We'll see. I really should focus on "Forced Love" or "Truth or Dare" because I keep meaning to continue those. Anyway, for now, I'm kind of focusing on this.**

**Chapter 27: Hero Complex**

Elphaba had fallen asleep on Fiyero's shoulder in his room again when he nudged her awake. "Fae, you dozed off again."

"Oh!" Elphaba shot up. "How long?"

"Maybe five minutes. You have to stop working so hard." He brushed her hair back from her face. "You got perfect marks the past two years without exhausting yourself."

"I have an extra class, now. And I have to do the best I can if I want to meet the Wizard."

"Why do you want to meet him so badly when you're certain he's the one suppressing the Animals?" He asked softly.

"That's why!"

"You're not going to freak out at him or anything like that…"

"No, Fiyero! I just want to find out as much as I can. You need to understand."

"I understand, but I don't like seeing you like this. Every time we spend any time together you're exhausted. You're going to burn out."

"Just give me until winter break and I'll slow down, I promise."

"That's a month away." He pulled her close to him, resting a hand against her cheek. "Elphaba, when you go to the city, are you sure you aren't going to get carried away?"

Elphaba glared at him. "Can you please leave that alone? How many times do I have to tell you that I will be fine? Glinda will be there to watch over me, if you refuse to trust me."

"I trust you; I do. I just saw the way you were when Dillamond was murdered. You have a lot of passion bottled up in you, Elphaba, and I don't want it coming out the wrong way."

Elphaba laughed and kissed him. "I have other outlets."

He pressed his forehead against hers. "I'm glad I'm of good use for you."

"Yero, I'm still so tired." She admitted.

He laid back in the bed and pulled her with him. "You can stay here a little longer. It's barely noon. I don't know how you're already so tired on a Saturday." He fingered her hair softly. "You do need to rest, and here is as good a place as any."

"It is peaceful here, unlike my room. I never know who's going to come knocking or what Glinda's going to be up to. I sometimes envy how you have your own room."

Fiyero smiled at her. "I don't think you do. You would miss Glinda."

"Those are words I never thought I'd hear two years ago." Elphaba rested her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "Mm. Fiyero, I spend way too much time in here. Glinda must think we're doing scandalous things in here. Although she's never asked."

"I think she knows you well enough not to ask. And she probably knows you well enough to be able to tell that we aren't doing much of anything but talking for the most part. Fae, you should sleep." He coaxed gently.

She closed her eyes and felt herself drifting off to a calmer sleep than she'd had in quite some time, warmed by the arm wrapped around her waist.

Fiyero watched her sleep for at least half an hour before starting to close his eyes. Just as he thought he might be falling asleep, someone knocked at his door. He looked at Elphaba, who hadn't stirred. Gently, he pulled his arm from around her and rose from the bed. Careful to only open the door a crack so that no one could see the sleeping girl in his bed, he stepped out of his room. "What is it?"

Boq stood there, his ruddy complexion looking even redder in the dim light of the hallway. "I thought I'd see how you're doing. We don't have any classes together this term, so I don't get to talk to you all that much."

Fiyero bit his lip and then let the door fall open. "I'm a little busy, I mean… well, I don't want to just leave her there…" He gestured to his bed.

Boq raised his eyebrows.

"She's tired, that's all. She's been working too hard this semester and she's always falling asleep every time she comes over here. Trust me, I'd much rather her be awake. Who do I talk to when she's sleeping?" He laughed.

Elphaba stirred and looked up. "Um, Boq, good afternoon. I was just sleeping." She shot Fiyero a questioning look.

"I just stopped by to say hello to Fiyero. How are you, Elphie?" Boq stepped into the room.

Elphaba climbed out of the blankets and sat on the edge of the bed. "I'm fine. Tired, but fine."

Fiyero closed the door behind Boq and pointed to a chair. "You can sit down." Fiyero sat down next to Elphaba on his bed.

"Thanks." Boq sighed. "I guess things with you two have been going fine?"

"You are so awkward around us, Boq." Elphaba said, eyebrows raised.

"What am I supposed to do? I was supposed to marry you, but then we both decided to go another direction, but he's one of my closest friends and I grew up with you."

"It is weird," Fiyero agreed, "but you really have no reason to feel so uncomfortable."

Boq shrugged and leaned against the chair. "Elphaba, why haven't you been at lunch at all this term? Fiyero shows up plenty, but I haven't seen you once."

"I've been busy with schoolwork."

Boq looked skeptical but nodded.

"She's lost her mind," Fiyero informed Boq, "and she's become completely obsessed with school. I mean, more so than she was before."

"You're just saying that because you think we don't spend enough time together." Elphaba grumbled at him.

"We spend plenty of time together. Half of it you're asleep."

Elphaba rested her hand on his. "I told you, just another month, okay? Then I'll slow down." She got up and stared out the window.

Fiyero knew what she was looking at, but said nothing about it. "I only hope you survive that long, Elphaba."

"I'm not the one who almost got himself killed at the beginning of the year, am I?" Elphaba put her hands on her hips and glared at Fiyero.

Boq looked at the two of them. "Do you mind if I ask what in Lurline's arse happened then?"

Elphaba sighed and sat back down next to Fiyero. "It's complicated."

"Is it ever not?" Boq grinned.

Elphaba smiled a little at this. "Okay, so I broke in to the old science building. Something followed me and Fiyero saw it from his window. He got it in his head to go after it to protect me. Clearly, he was the one who needed to be protected."

"What do you mean 'something followed' you?"

Elphaba bit her lip. "Morrible's tik-tok servant."

Boq shook his head. "I don't understand. Sure, it would've caught Elphaba and she'd get in trouble, but why'd it end up attacking you?" He looked at Fiyero.

"Because there are things in Dillamond's old lab Morrible doesn't want people getting to." Elphaba answered. "And anyone in there could be a threat to her, so she probably instructed it to attack whatever it came upon, figuring she could claim it was an accident."

"So it obviously could've attacked her. Only I got to it first." Fiyero insisted.

"Does it matter now?" Elphaba asked, looking at him with a sort of concern. "You're the one who got hurt. I had to freaking drag you out of there by way of… I mean, I had to drag you out of there." She caught herself. "The damn thing sliced through your vein."

"At least it didn't slash through your neck!"

"Okay, you two." Boq interrupted. "I'm not going to take a side here. But why were you in the old science building in the first place, Elphaba?"

Fiyero looked at her expectantly.

Elphaba shook her head. "I just was."

"Oh, come on, Fae. You have this warped sense of obligation to Dr. Dillamond and you go to the most ridiculous lengths to continue his work." Fiyero squeezed her hand.

"What do you want me to do? Let it all just go to waste?"

"Elphaba," Boq said, "I don't know exactly what is going on here, but you need to be careful. I just have this bad feeling…"

"Oh, now you're both ganging up on me! 'Elphaba, be careful,' 'Elphaba, stop doing such dangerous things,' and blah, blah, blah!" Elphaba threw her arms in the air.

"We just worry about you." Boq said calmly.

"Did you bring him in here for some sort of intervention?" Elphaba gave Fiyero an accusatory look.

"No! I was perfectly happy to be asleep on the bed with you rather than arguing. Why would I do that?"

"Because you refuse to trust that I'm going to be cautious at all with anything!" Elphaba got up. "Fiyero, we'll continue this later, okay?"

"Elphaba…" Fiyero reached for her.

"Oh, don't do that. I love you. I'm just a little tired and this whole conversation is exasperating me. I'm not storming out or anything." Elphaba breathed deeply and went back to the window.

"Maybe I'll come back and hang out with Fiyero later. Or on a school night when you're too busy…" Boq got up and left, mouthing 'good luck' to Fiyero.

Fiyero came up behind Elphaba, wrapping one arm around her waist. He followed her gaze to the old lab. "Don't go back there."

"I'm not going to," she turned to him, "but I don't need you constantly watching over and nagging me, Yero. I know you have this need to be a hero for me or something, but I don't need that from you." She smiled suddenly and giggled a little.

"What?"

"Yero my hero." She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.

"I like that." He smiled, hugging her back.

"Don't take it too literally." She looked up at him. "I don't need a hero who gets himself killed. You can't be my hero if you don't stay alive, Fiyero. Let me take care of myself and you take care of you. That's the only heroic thing you need to do."

Fiyero pressed his lips to her forehead. "I know and I will." But he still couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't done getting into trouble.


	28. Chapter 28: An Unpleasant Proposition

**Chapter 28: An Unpleasant Proposition**

Fiyero stayed at Shiz for winter break to see Elphaba off on her journey with Glinda to the Emerald City. As far as he was concerned, there'd never been any doubt that Morrible would send her to the city – Elphaba could've slept through her classes and gotten good marks. He wanted to be there when she left and when she came back. He stood outside in his coat with Elphaba and Glinda as they awaited the carriage. The two girls were holding hands (albeit, on Elphaba's part, somewhat reluctantly). Elphaba continually looked up at the sky, prepared to throw her hood over her head and take cover should she glimpse any snow. He pulled Elphaba away for a moment.

"You guys are scheduled to be back at the end of next week, right?"

"Yes."

"Then there are two and a half more weeks of the winter holidays. Are Nanny and Nessa going home?" He put a hand on her cheek.

Elphaba shook her head. "Our father might come up here after I get back so that he can spend some time with us – not that he would've done that if it was just me."

"Your father is an idiot for not loving you. Promise me you'll come find me when you get back? I want to hear all about it. Even my father has never met the Wizard face to face!"

Elphaba smiled at him. "I will." She spotted the carriage coming towards them and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him quickly. "I'll miss you."

"I love you, Elphaba. I'll miss you, too." He stood there and watched the carriage fade into the grey, trying to pinpoint what it was that he found so unsettling about her leaving.

Elphaba and Glinda looked at each other excitedly as they were led back into the Wizard's chambers. Glinda giggled uncomfortably and Elphaba tried to keep calm. She realized that the two of them were looking forward to this visit for two very different reasons. She couldn't understand what kind of contraption she was seeing as they entered the room.

The Wizard stepped out from behind the contraption. He was a small little man, weak and frail looking. Glinda and Elphaba exchanged awkward glances. The little man cordially asked them to have a seat. Both girls sat down mechanically, staring at him as they did so. He sat across from them. Morrible was there, too, emerging from the shadows. Elphaba did not like that Morrible was there – how connected was Morrible? Had the Wizard had some part in Dr. Dillamond's death, too?

And that was when the Wizard explained the plan he and Morrible had come up with. They wanted Elphaba and Glinda to help him keep control of the different regions of Oz. Glinda was to handle the North in Gilikin. Elphaba the East in Munchkinland. And, Morrible added, if Nessa showed as much potential as Elphaba, Nessa would take the South, in Quadling Country.

"What about the Vinkus?"

Glinda eyed Elphaba, knowing exactly what her best friend was thinking.

"There's not enough of a population out there to cause any potential problems. The people out there are barbaric, anyway. They could never be intelligent enough to give me any real trouble." The Wizard smiled.

Elphaba took a deep breath, biting her lip. What was there to say to that? She couldn't exactly just come out and say she was in a relationship with a Vinkun prince and that she thought the West was very beautiful, and if Fiyero was any example, then the people were smarter than the Wizard seemed to think they were. Her heart thudded in her chest.

Glinda was looking at her, knowing very well what was going on. She would never tell Elphaba, but she had spoken to Fiyero and promised to try to keep Elphaba from getting into trouble. Although she thought perhaps even Fiyero would be pretty angry at this point. "Your Ozness, Elphaba and I are friends with one of our classmates at Shiz from the Vinkus and he is very intelligent."

"He must be some sort of exception. There are always mutations among people like that, and his intelligence must be from something of that sort. Oz only knows, they must be constantly inbreeding."

Elphaba was turning purple with rage. She swallowed hard, closed her eyes and tried to keep calm. Glinda had taken her hand beneath the table and was squeezing it. Her roommate's eyes were trying their best to communicate a message to stay in control. Elphaba merely nodded at her. Strained, she asked, "What sort of problems do you think we might need to handle?"

"Rebellions. There are people out in Munchkinland known to be harboring Animal refugees, and that can't be. Any word against me is treason and I would trust the two of you to handle those sort of offenses appropriately." The Wizard made a gesture across his throat.

Elphaba looked at her lap. Oz was not a dictatorship! Or at least, she hadn't thought it was. Slowly she spoke. "May we have time to think about it?"

As she and Glinda left the palace an hour later, Elphaba was fuming. They looked at each other and she tried to speak, but no words would come out. She cursed; Morrible had put some sort of spell on them so that they couldn't discuss anything with each other. When they reached the hotel, Elphaba rushed up to her room, took out paper and began to write.

_Fiyero,_

_ I held my tongue as long as I could, but I can't continue to do so. I was right, and it's worse than I thought. Please don't follow me. I told you that I can't allow you to be in danger because of my actions, and that is why I have to leave. I love you and you know I'd like nothing more than to be with you, but this situation wouldn't allow that without putting your life in jeopardy. Please make sure Glinda and Nessa do not fall apart without me. And don't you fall apart, either. Keep yourself together, my hero._

_ Love,  
>Elphaba<em>

It was that note that she handed Glinda the next morning as she pushed her into the carriage. "Give this to Fiyero." As the carriage door closed, Glinda's eyes wide, she ran, letting herself disappear into the city. She knew Glinda wouldn't come after her. She couldn't. Glinda wouldn't know the first thing to do. And though it broke her heart, she refused to turn back and watch her go.

A week hadn't even gone by when there were frantic soft knocks at Fiyero's door. He was surprised to find a grief-stricken Glinda crying in the doorway. "Oh, sweet Oz, what happened?"

"She's gone, Fiyero. She ran off. I didn't know what to do. She told me to give this to you." Glinda handed him the note.

He opened it and read it. "You've read this, I presume?"

"I couldn't help it. I had hours alone in that carriage worrying about her."

"Glinda, it's fine." He left the door open and sat down on his bed, head reeling.

Glinda followed him inside and sat on his desk chair. "What do we do? We can't let her do this, Fiyero, we just can't."

Fiyero was surprised at how calm he was. "Slow down. Tell me what happened with the Wizard."

Glinda nodded. "Okay, well, when we got there, he congratulated us on gaining Morrible's attentions and approval. Then he told us that he wanted us to help him rule Oz – I in the North, Elphaba in the East."

"What about the West?"

Glinda bit her lip. "He said that there wasn't enough of a population out there to matter. And that was when I could tell Elphaba was unhappy, but she didn't say anything. But when he explained what he wanted us to do as his assistants and the rebel movements he wanted us to watch out for and control, I knew Elphaba would be upset. She was still quiet, though, and I squeezed her hand. He continued to talk to us about how he expected us to come back after we had graduated and he wanted us to have made a decision, and then we left. Elphaba wouldn't even talk to me; she just ran straight to her room and didn't come out until the morning. And then she walked me to a carriage, handed me this note for you and ran."

"How much did he say directly about the Animals?"

"Not a lot, but he alluded to the whole situation plenty. He even said something that sounded a whole lot like he was referencing Dr. Dillamond's death."

Fiyero rested his head in his hands. "That obviously would have set her off."

"I told you I'd try to watch her, but I thought since she was okay during the meeting that she just needed some time… I couldn't go after her, Fiyero. I didn't know the first place to start."

"I don't blame you. Once Elphaba gets something in her head, there really is no stopping her."

Glinda was still crying. "Fiyero, we can't let her go like this. We'll never see her again. What do I tell Morrible?"

"You tell her nothing right now until we figure out what we're going to do."

"She doesn't want you coming after her."

"I know." He paused. "Have you told Nanny and Nessa?"

"Just briefly. They were pretty shocked. They said something about Elphaba's father coming into town tonight and how horrified he'd be."

Fiyero wanted to go over there, to meet Elphaba's father and ask for help, but for whatever reason, despite the fact that she might be gone for good, he wanted to keep their secret. "Where did you tell them you were?"

"Talking to Boq."

"I suggest you do that. And have him go over there, too. I can't go with you, Glinda. You know that. They'd know."

"Does that even matter anymore? She's run away!"

"I can't give it away, that would be like giving up."

Glinda nodded sympathetically. "Fiyero, I can't let her go, not like this."

"Neither can I."

"I'm so sorry. It hurts for me, but it must be killing you, the way you love her…"

"Don't worry about me. I need to think for a while. Please, go talk to Boq. I'll come find you when I've thought of something."

But he didn't need to come find her. Just before visiting hours ended that night, she was back. "Elphaba's father is about to lose his head."

"I can only imagine."

"He left for the City an hour ago. He's gone after her."

"I didn't expect that." Fiyero knew well enough that Elphaba's father had never much cared for her. Perhaps he was enraged because she was making him look bad? Maybe he was mad because if she ran away he'd be breaking the promise he'd made to the Unnamed God that she would marry Boq? He was certain that whatever her father's motives were, they had nothing to do with love. "He must've been raging, Elphaba running off and disobeying him like that."

"What do we do now?" Glinda asked.

"We wait. We hope she comes back to us. And we hope she still cares about us when she does."


	29. Chapter 29: Her Father's Daughter

**AN: So, almost every time I write this storyline, she either doesn't go into the city, Fiyero stops her from running off or he goes after her. I thought I'd actually have Fiyero NOT be involved in bringing her back this time.**

**Chapter 29: Her Father's Daughter**

Elphaba only had enough pocket money for two more nights in that dingy hotel and a little food. She could hear things through the walls that she certainly never wanted to hear and there were bugs on the floor, but she wasn't one to complain about living conditions. If she hadn't found any other options by the time her money ran out, she'd live on the street if needed. She realized that running off without thinking might not have been the best idea; she had no idea what she was looking for and what to do to find it. She supposed she wanted to join some sort of resistance movement – if there was one.

She climbed off of the bed, not having used the stained and torn blankets and sheets and merely sleeping on top of them. She doubted even that was sanitary, but it was the best she could do. It was cold and she hugged herself. As she did, she closed her eyes and imagined that she wasn't the one holding her own hand.

Fiyero… he must know by now. What would he think? She wondered if he was sad or angry or some combination of the two. It didn't matter. Well, it couldn't matter. Perhaps now she would die an old maid, but at least he'd be safe. She couldn't have his life on her conscience. Despite how much she told herself to forget him, her body ached for him. They'd never even… and now they never would. She tried to remind herself that it was better that way, though all she could do was wonder what it would've been like, and what she would've had if she hadn't run. But she couldn't go back.

She shook her head as if trying to shake off the thoughts of Fiyero like they were dust in her hair. It would never have worked, not if she wanted to do this. Elphaba sighed, grabbed the days old fruit she'd bought the day before and munched on it. Where did she go now? Pulling her cloak around her, she exited her room and journeyed along the streets of the City.

The City was thick with smoke from the Wizard's new technological "machines," and vehicles. Either the books she'd read were outdated or they'd lied altogether when they described the City as elegant. The green color was not an emerald, it was more of a dirty camouflage. From afar she could see construction crews working on that stupid yellow road everyone was all worked up about. She continued walking.

She soon found herself across the street from the Palace, staring up at it with a sort of indignation. It was the only building in the entire city that looked as though it had been cleaned in the past five years. The Palace actually shone. Elphaba wrinkled her nose at it and made to turn away when a hand caught her wrist.

"Elphaba Thropp! What were you thinking?" Frex loomed over her.

How had he found her? Better yet, _why_ had he found her? "Father, I… I'm an adult. Let me make my own decisions."

"Adult or not, you are still _my_ daughter. I cannot allow you to run off like this. What will people say? And how do I atone to the Unnamed God for the promise you would be breaking?"

"That's not my problem!" She tore her arm away angrily.

"It is. You are part of this family, whether or not you want to be. I demand you return to Shiz at once."

"No."

"Do you know what you've done to your sister?" Frex demanded.

Elphaba closed her eyes for a moment. Her father knew her well enough to know how to get to her. "She'll survive."

"She cried the entire day when she found out you'd left. She couldn't even wipe her own tears or blow her own nose."

"She has Nanny!"

"But who is going to watch out for her and make sure she makes friends? Who is going to make sure she does well in her classes?"

"Nessa can do all that on her own, Father."

"She is broken-hearted without you there, Elphaba. She can hardly function. You know how she admires you. How could you leave her like that?"

Elphaba lowered her eyes. "It's not about her. It's not even about me. It's bigger than that."

"The only thing bigger than that is the Unnamed God and I certainly can't see how He could've told you to abandon someone so devoted to Him as your sister and run off into the city on some foolish mission when you don't even know the first thing about the world!"

"Stop it with the Unnamed God, already!" Elphaba shouted. "I cannot stand it. You couldn't control me, but you brainwashed Nessa, and now she's been sucked into it, too. How is she supposed to make friends and do well in classes when the things you've taught her isolate her from everyone else? No one else at that school is as _devoted_ as Nessa and they think she's strange, Father. Then there are the sciences classes. Half of what they teach in those classes Nessa refuses to believe because of what the Unnamed God supposedly proclaims."

"Don't you go blaming me for any of your sister's problems. If she didn't have you for a sister, she'd be better off. But since you are her sister, you should be taking care of her."

"If she'd be better off without me, then I should go!"

"It's too late. She's grown too dependent on you and you can't just leave her in the lurch."

"Oh, and what is she going to do when you send me off to marry Boq, Father?"

"We will be training another nurse to help her. And I had hoped that perhaps you would be kind enough to take her in and care for her, then, too. But you're obviously not even caring for her now. How can you claim to love your sister when you do this? How can you love anyone at all?"

Elphaba wanted to shout that she did love, she did love her sister, she loved Fiyero, she loved her Nanny, but she never loved _him_, her father. But even that was a lie. Growing up she'd loved him, wanted him to approve of her. She didn't know what she felt about him now; she couldn't see past the anger. "Father, Madame Morrible has plans for me. She has plans for Nessa. She wants Nessa in the South helping the Wizard. She wants me in the East. How is Nessa to take on such a big job if she's as frail as you claim? And why would Morrible even consider it if Nessa was that frail? She's stronger than you say she is. You just don't want her to think so because maybe then she'd stop listening to you."

Frex slapped her.

Elphaba's face stung and she felt her eyes water as she looked up into the angry eyes of her father. "Why did you even bother to come after me?"

"Because if what you said about the Wizard appointing you to help him control the East is true, than the position of Eminent Thropp is exactly where you should be. That power will bring the Eminent Thropp back into a respectable light, if you could only act respectable."

"I act respectable in the way I believe. It may not be what you consider respectable, but it suits me just fine."

"You call leaving your sister in tears, unable to eat, respectable? You call leaving your roommate basically walking around in a trance respectable?"

Frex's mention of both Nessa and Glinda made Elphaba pause. She could only imagine how upset her sister was. She'd tried to throw it back onto her father, but the truth was that Nessa did depend on her. She did need her. And Glinda had worked so hard to help Elphaba into Madame Morrible's class, to help Elphaba be more social and come out of her shell. Why did either of them deserve this? "Father, I…"

"Stop. You are coming with me. No more arguing."

Elphaba sighed and looked back at the Palace. She surveyed the City one last time. What was there she could do here? Everyone seemed half dead already. But Nessa needed her. Glinda needed her. "Fine. But don't expect me to behave."

"Let me explain something to you. If you even leave that campus for one minute other than to come home and visit, I will find you and lock you in a mauntery until the day of your wedding. If you ever try to run away again and disobey me, I will take you out of that school and take away every single book you own. You will long for the days you used to care for your sister. Is that clear?"

Elphaba's eyes watered again as she let her father drag her through the streets. Her life was never her own. Being at Shiz had fooled her into thinking that she could do what she wanted. She knew if she ran again her father would make good on his promise. She vowed to herself that once she had graduated, she would never let him control her again, or Nessa. Elphaba would find someone to take care of her sister. Then she would do what she wanted, no matter what Frex thought about it. She found herself climbing into a carriage after her father, feeling blank.

Two nights later, there was a knock at Fiyero's door. He pulled the door open. "Elphaba?"

She hung her head. "I'm sorry?"


	30. Chapter 30: Trust Issues

**Chapter 30: Trust Issues**

Fiyero stood and stared at her for a moment, then opened the door wider, inviting her inside. "It's after visiting hours."

"Glinda knows where I am. She insisted on watching through the window until I got to the building. She's supposed to report to Nanny if I leave for anything suspicious so they can catch me if I run again, but she said that seeing you would be an exception. In fact, she basically told me I had to come here."

He sat down on his bed, looking at her like she was someone else. "Elphaba, what happened?"

She sat across from him in a chair. "You got my letter?"

He nodded.

"Then you know what happened."

"Glinda filled me in a little. But why did you just leave all of us like that? I thought… I really thought that when you told me you'd come back that you meant it, that you cared enough not to do this."

"Fiyero, I do care!" She leapt out of the chair and sat next to him. "I thought of you every night I was gone." Her cheeks turned dark as she realized how that had sounded. "I cared enough not to come back for you. I told you that I could get you in trouble. I can't let you get hurt because I'm too stubborn."

His eyes told her that he didn't quite want to hear it, that it wasn't enough for him. All he could understand was that she'd left him. Fiyero grabbed her hand. "You left me. You left Glinda. You left all of us."

"I came back."

"Somehow I don't think that was all your decision."

She kissed him. "Fiyero, please."

He pulled away gently and held her at arm's length. "Elphaba, how am I supposed to feel? The girl I loved just ran off into the City without saying goodbye or bothering to explain. I would've gone with you."

"And that's the problem. Don't you see, Fiyero? I love you, I really do. But if you had come with me and I had found what I was looking for, you would've been in as much danger as I would've been. I would rather have you alive, even if I can't be with you, than have you dead because of me."

"If you love me and wanted me alive, then why didn't you just come back and stay?"

"I couldn't." She sighed.

"Will you ever love me enough to stay?" He asked desperately.

Elphaba looked at him sadly. "Oh, Yero my hero, the only reason I stayed so long was you. But love has never been my first priority in life – why should it have been when I never had any?"

"But you have it _now_."

"You really still love me?"

"I do. What I want to do about that, I honestly don't know. It's difficult to be in a relationship with you knowing that I'm not enough for you. It's difficult to be with you and know you could run off again at any moment."

Elphaba's eyes had been tearing way too much lately, and they didn't stop then. She stood up and walked to the window, looking to the left at Crage hall, wondering if any of the rooms with the lights still on belonged to her roommate or her sister. Flinching at the sting, she wiped tears away from her eyes and turned back to Fiyero. "I wasn't thinking. If you had been there, Fiyero, and heard what that awful man said…"

He saw the tears in her eyes and they shocked him. He'd seen her distressed when he'd been hurt, but he hadn't seen her cry like this. Fiyero got up and drew her to him, letting her cry against his chest. "If I had been there, could I have talked you out of it?"

She touched his cheek. "I like to think so. But listening to him just made me so angry!"

"I know, Fae. But it hurts me to think that you could just leave like that."

"It wasn't as easy as you seem to think it was." She looked up at him as he wiped the tears from her face. "I couldn't lie in bed without thinking of you. I couldn't wake up in the morning without feeling pain realizing that I wouldn't see you. Part of me wanted to come back for you and bring you to the City with me. But the other part of me knew I couldn't live with what might happen if I did. But I thought all of the time about us, about what we'd have if I hadn't left, if I came back. Fiyero, we've been together for two years and somehow we've been able to deal with every mess that's been thrown at us. I did think that maybe we could deal with this, together, too. But no, no matter how cold and alone I felt at night, I couldn't drag you into this."

Fiyero had the strongest temptation to tease her for thinking about him in bed, but now was certainly not the time. He also knew from the look in her eyes that she'd let him take her then and there but, despite his lust for her, he knew that neither of them were in an emotional state to make that decision. She wanted to make up for leaving him, and he wanted to make her his so she wouldn't run. Neither of those were good reasons. "Do you want to run again?" He asked softly.

"No."

He took both of her hands and sat her back down. "Why not?"

"Because I have a better idea. I can't be obvious about how I feel about the Wizard. It'll be a lot easier for me to get caught and for everything I've done to fall to pieces. Did Glinda tell you what he offered us?"

"Yes. I knew Morrible thought the two of you could be of good service to the Wizard, but that's huge. I wasn't quite expecting that proposal."

"Maybe, maybe I should take it. He's an old man. And Glinda is on my side in this now. With a little more influence, maybe we could fix it together."

"But I belong in the West."

"And Nessa belongs in the East, Yero. Not me. What Munchkin would listen to someone who doesn't even look like one of them? Nessa may have no arms, but she has their stature, their skin color. If I belong anywhere, it's in the South or the West. That's where the people who look different are. That's where the people who are oppressed are."

"But he said that the West…"

"Glinda told you that?" She sighed when Fiyero nodded. "I haven't quite figured that part out. I mean, at this point it's no guarantee that the two of us will…"

"I'd say after two years that there's a good enough chance."

She shook her head, trying to ignore the implication of what Fiyero had just said, not ready to discuss that subject. "Well, I could try to convince him that the West is important enough to keep an eye on." She grimaced as she said the last words. "Not like he'd listen. Really, I just don't know. I really don't. But I know that I love you."

He looked into her eyes and saw that she was vulnerable, something she'd never let herself be around anyone, even him. She was begging him not to let her go. "I love you, too, Fae. I'm not giving up on us, but I am hurt, okay?"

"I understand and I can't blame you. I'll try to make it up to you in time. I can't promise you anything, Fiyero, except that I have a plan and I don't intend to leave again. I really should finish school. You know how important that is to me. How can I be of any use if I don't learn as much as I can? And, I mean, there's this boy at school who I'm completely in love with, and I certainly don't want to leave him."

He smiled gently and laughed deep in his throat, kissing her softly on the lips. "Will Glinda kill you if you don't come back tonight?"

"Seriously, I don't think she'd be surprised. But I need to be back early. Nanny is now going to be obsessively checking on me right before she puts Nessa to bed and right after Nessa wakes up. And Glinda is to report right away if I don't come back when expected. However, I don't think I'm expected to be back tonight."

He turned the lights off. "You don't have a nightgown. Are you okay sleeping in your dress?"

She nodded, then realized he might not be able to see her nod in the dark. "Yes, that's fine." As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she crawled into his bed.

Fiyero climbed in next to her, not bothering to change out of his clothes, either. "Elphaba, you are really going to drive me crazy one of these days – I am trying to trust you, but I do worry."

"Sorry," she shrugged and turned away from him.

"Wait." When she turned back around he gave her a long, deep kiss goodnight. "Goodnight, Fae. I love you." He wrapped his arm around her waist when she turned her body away from him again.

"Good night, Yero my hero."

He didn't sleep that night, though it seemed that she did. Fiyero stayed up thinking, instead. He loved her more than anything, but what was he thinking, forgiving her like this? She'd abandoned him, abandoned her best friend. At least he hadn't been the only one she'd run away from, he thought. He didn't think he'd ever really been mad that she'd left, just hurt. He was still hurt. She'd said she'd make it up to him. He only hoped he had enough trust left in him to let her.


	31. Chapter 31: Reparations

**Chapter 31: Reparations**

Elphaba looked at Glinda when she got back in the room the next morning. "I stayed in Fiyero's room. I hope you didn't worry."

"I figured that if you left the room late at night, he'd watch to make sure you got back safe. If he didn't see you come back here, he probably would've gotten concerned and come to talk to me." Glinda shrugged, already dressed, sitting on top of her covers.

"Glinda, you sent me straight over to Fiyero's last night without letting me explain."

"I don't need your explanation, Elphaba."

Glinda was shutting her out, clearly. Elphaba didn't know how to handle something like this. She hadn't even had any idea how to handle the situation with Fiyero last night, but he was at least a little easier to read, not to mention a little softer when it came to her. "Glinda, I'm sorry."

The blonde dismissed her apology. "What happened with Fiyero? I'm assuming he wasn't too mad, considering you stayed the night."

"He wasn't really mad so much as he was hurt."

A knock came at the door and Nanny walked in. "Hello, ladies. Just checking in."

"Well, I'm here, Nanny, no need to worry." Elphaba grumbled.

"You're wearing the same clothes you wore yesterday."

"It was a long night, Nanny. I had a lot of explaining to do. In fact, we're trying to talk."

Nanny shrugged and left the room.

"Glinda…"

"You were telling me what happened with Fiyero." Glinda said simply.

"We talked. He doesn't know if he can trust me anymore, obviously. And he felt betrayed that I didn't love him enough to stay."

"You didn't care about any of us enough to stay."

Elphaba hugged herself, wishing someone would tell her what to do to fix this. Fiyero still didn't trust her all that much and Glinda wouldn't let her in. "I didn't think enough to stay."

"I was right there in front of you, Elphaba. I can understand, maybe, how you might've been able to ignore the idea of leaving Fiyero, but I was _right there_, Elphaba."

"I don't know what to say, Glinda. This isn't something I know how to deal with."

"There's a lot you don't know, then, isn't there? Like how to stand by your friends."

"I… now that Nanny's checked in, I'm going back to Fiyero's. If she asks, tell her I'm at the library and that you saw me go in."

"Whatever you want."

Elphaba took a moment to wash up and change her clothes. She grabbed her bag, shoved some things in it and headed to the door.

"Please tell Fiyero that I expect him to tell me if he sees you leave and go anywhere but back here. I don't feel like getting in trouble for allowing you to sneak off to see him if you end up escaping from there."

"I'm not a freaking prisoner! I came back, didn't I? I didn't have to listen to my father but I still did. I'm not going anywhere. Believe me."

"I don't know what to believe, Elphaba."

Elphaba winced and left, hugging her backpack close to her. She'd felt less alone in the City than she did in that dorm room with Glinda. And for the first time, Elphaba realized, she no longer liked feeling alone.

Fiyero answered the door and looked at her curiously. "That was fast…"

"It's Glinda. She won't talk to me. Well, she will, but she's not really _talking_ and I'm going crazy in there."

Fiyero closed the door behind her, sighed and sat down on his bed as Elphaba followed. "I don't want to be rude, but what do you expect her to do? You didn't even talk to her about any of it and she was actually with you."

"There were things we couldn't talk about. Morrible put a spell on us so we couldn't discuss the Wizard's proposition."

"But you could've said something about wanting to leave or being angry that the Wizard said such and such about the Animals outside of the context of the offer, couldn't you?"

"I don't know, I guess."

"But you didn't even try to."

Elphaba threw herself back on the bed. "No one's going to let this go, are they?" She grabbed one of his pillows and buried her face in it, hoping the tears wouldn't even reach her face this time.

Fiyero moved next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You left us. It hurt. People don't react well to being hurt, Elphaba."

She knew this. That's why she reacted so harshly to anyone, readily expecting them to hurt her. And it was why she didn't react harshly to Fiyero, having at some point allowed herself to think that maybe he wouldn't hurt her. The same with Glinda. But she had hurt them, instead. "I am a failure at this relationship and friendship stuff."

"You're not a failure, Fae. I like to think that if you knew the impact of your actions, you wouldn't have run off like that. But you aren't used to being accountable to anyone but your family, and all you know is resistance to that accountability. I still don't understand why the thought of never seeing Glinda or me again didn't stop you, but I do realize that you weren't thinking straight. The problem with that is that I don't know it won't happen again."

Elphaba let the pillow fall away from her face. "I said it wouldn't."

"And you told me before you left that you'd be fine in the City and wouldn't do something exactly like what you did."

"You're never going to believe me, are you?"

"Not never. But not now."

"No one's going to forgive me."

"I'm not mad to begin with. As I said before."

Elphaba groaned. "I've really messed up, haven't I?"

"What do you want me to say to that, Fae?"

"I don't know." She looked at him helplessly.

"Fae, stop worrying about fixing this with me, okay? You can't magically fix it right now. I still love you. I'm just a little worried about what you did. The only way that's going to fade is time. I am not the person you need to be trying to get forgiveness from."

She grumbled but rested her head against his chest. "What do I say to her? I said I was sorry. What does she want me to tell her?"

"I can't answer that. You need to tell her what you want to say. That's the best you can do."

An hour later, Elphaba reentered the room she shared with Glinda; it wasn't even noon yet. "Glinda, please listen to me."

Glinda gave her an empty look. "When did I ever say I wasn't listening?"

"That's not what I meant." Elphaba sat next to her roommate on the fluffy white bedspread. "I'm not any good at this, Glinda. I ran off without thinking. I should've talked to you first. I tried to say something, but that spell… it wouldn't let me. If I had tried to say something else, maybe I could've. But I was too impulsive to try and I just went and made my own decision. I felt awful leaving you there. When my father told me that both you and Nessa were not handling my abandonment well, that's when I knew I had to come back. The moment he mentioned how upset you both were, I realized I should never have left."

"You only thought those things because of Nessa."

"No. My father had been saying plenty about Nessa and I ignored him. It wasn't until he mentioned you that I gave in. You are my best friend, Glinda. And yes, I left Fiyero, I left Nessa, but really, the stupidest thing I did was leave you. Because you were there for me, Glinda, and I didn't take advantage of that fact. I'll never forgive myself for sending you away like that on your own. I couldn't look back when you left because I knew I'd break down if I saw the carriage taking you away."

Glinda actually looked at her then. "Elphie, you have no idea what that did to me."

"Maybe I don't. But if it was anything like what it did to me, Glinda, then it was awful."

"You really didn't come back just because of Nessa, then?"

"I love Nessa. But she has Nanny and she will have everything she ever needs. To Nessa, I am a sister she didn't choose, and I don't believe she'd choose me if she could. But you would. And that means more to me."

Glinda's eyes watered then and she threw her arms around her roommate, hugging her. "Oh, Elphie, I missed you so much. I was so worried."

"I know. And I'm so sorry. I feel terrible for what I did to all of you. I've damaged my relationships with all of you in ways that I can't repair right away, if ever. And I regret that."

"Does Fiyero still love you?" Glinda asked softly.

"He does. But I don't think he can feel safe loving me anymore. I hurt him, Glinda. And I hurt you. I understand if you can't trust me. I don't know if I can trust myself. But if it means anything, I want to be here now. I want to be with my friends. I have other plans to deal with the politics of all of this, and they don't involve leaving anyone here."

Glinda looked the slightest bit relieved, though hesitantly so. "I believe you mean that right now, Elphie. I just hope you mean it no matter what happens."


	32. Chapter 32: A Bad Feeling About This

**AN: I always want to respond to my reviews personally, and I have to several people and most of them start a conversation with me, but then I feel creepy doing that… Like my last review. I thought about it, and then I was like "no, seriously, I'm 22 and I'm probably messaging 16 year olds and maybe that's weird" lol. If you want me to reply, I'd be more than happy to.**

**Anyway, in writing, I am at chapter 42, which is basically where my outline ends more or less. I don't know if I should let it end where I want or drag it out. I think once I get to that chapter (or the next, I'm not sure I can fit my ending into one chapter), I'll ask what my readers think. You probably all think I should get back to the other stories I never finished…**

**Chapter 32: A Bad Feeling About This**

Elphaba and Glinda were practicing for their sorcery midterm and Fiyero was watching, amused. When Elphaba had tried the spells in the Grimmerie other than the one she'd tried in front of him, he hadn't been allowed near her. No one had. She didn't even tell anyone she'd been doing it. But now that she and Glinda were in class together and Elphaba didn't need to hide her talents, he could actually watch her. Glinda had been in a class with Elphaba occasionally, but this was the first time the two of them studied together for anything, odd as it seemed. Perhaps, Fiyero thought, it was because he hogged all of Elphaba's available study time.

The two of them were levitating small things in the room – pieces of paper, makeup (well, just Glinda), pencils, pens, small clothing items. Glinda had made it a sort of game to try and find the most fun things to levitate. At one point she had levitated Elphaba's hair so that her braid stood almost straight up. Fiyero had even laughed at that – until Elphaba glared at him, of course. Elphaba had responded by levitating Glinda's diary in the air, half-open. Glinda had backed off after that.

Glinda levitated one of her hairpins as Elphaba glanced over the notes that Fiyero assumed she probably didn't need to look at anyway. "Your turn, Elphie."

Elphaba shrugged and levitated Glinda's desk. After a moment of stunned silence from Glinda, she let it down and held her head. "Ow."

"Elphaba, I didn't know you could levitate something that big." Glinda gaped at her.

"She levitated one huge rock back at Kiamo Ko." Fiyero mentioned.

"Are you okay?" Glinda looked at her.

Elphaba shook her head quickly. "Glinda, does it ever hurt when you do any of this? Like your head?"

Glinda nodded. "It's supposed to. It's like a muscle that gets sore. But how did you do that?"

"There's a stronger spell in the Grimmerie for that… I must've gotten confused. I probably shouldn't do that on the midterm because if Morrible notices she'll be too curious."

"What else can you do from that book, Elphie?"

"Well, when I killed the clock thing I sent electricity through its 'body' and zapped it." Elphaba went to the drawer where she kept the book and unlocked it, gingerly holding the book in her hands. "There's a lot in this book that I can do at least some of. But there are one or two spells I just don't know what they mean. And one of them seems dark to me. I don't know why, though."

Glinda walked to her and looked over her shoulder. "May I try something in here?"

Elphaba nodded.

Fiyero stared at them eagerly. She wouldn't let anyone but Glinda touch that book. While he was slightly jealous that she didn't trust him enough to let him hold onto it, he could understand why. Glinda knew what the book was. He didn't. And it made him happy to know that there was someone else that she could trust.

Glinda took the book from Elphaba and scanned the pages for a few minutes until something popped out at her. She chanted the words that, as usual, Fiyero could not understand, and suddenly a pillow on her bed turned into a kitten.

Elphaba laughed. "You would do something like that, wouldn't you?"

"Oh, but he's cute, isn't he?" Glinda picked the kitten up, stroking his long fur. He was a bleached white with eyes the color of Elphaba's skin.

"We can't keep him in here, Glinda; it's completely against the rules…"

"No one needs to know! Please, Elphie?"

Elphaba paused for a moment. "Glinda, you realize that spell was pretty difficult and powerful, right? Maybe neither one of us is being challenged enough in Morrible's class. I bet she knows more than she lets on but she doesn't want to share it with anyone."

"Oh, stop with the conspiracy theories; we're talking about something serious. Can we please keep the kitten?"

Glinda didn't have to beg much. She knew Elphaba had a soft spot for animals or Animals. Elphaba sighed. "Fine. But if we get in trouble, I am going to turn your favorite dress into a monkey."

Glinda put the kitten down and it walked over to Fiyero, purring at his feet. He picked it up and stroked its head. "I hope he's at least a quiet cat. What if Nanny finds out?"

"She won't care." Elphaba waved it away. "She's not as strict as she wants us all to think. She was stricter with us back home, but now that she's here and Father doesn't tell her what to do every single day, I think she's a little more lax with us."

"So can we tell her we're dating?" Fiyero asked.

"No. I have a feeling it's a sort of 'don't ask, don't tell' with these things, Fiyero. I'm not jinxing it. She's clearly suspicious as it is, but so long as we don't do something she can't pretend to ignore, she won't say anything about it."

Glinda lit one of the candles in the room. "Your turn."

Elphaba did the same.

"Do either of you really need to study for this?" Fiyero asked. "You act as if you could do these things with your eyes closed."

Glinda sat on her bed, making kissing noises so the kitten would come over to her. "Studying for this class is actually fun."

Fiyero smiled. "I'm having fun just watching. I wish I could do this stuff."

"Well, we're just special." Glinda held the kitten to her face and rubbed noses with it.

"I am very concerned," Elphaba interjected.

"Why?"

"Because now that you know that spell, all of Oz is going to be overrun with kittens."

"It doesn't have to be kittens. There could be puppies or horses…"

"How about you use that sparingly? I wonder what people must've done with these spells back when this book was used."

"Maybe this book is why they aren't here to tell us," Fiyero thought aloud.

"What do you mean?"

"You said you think there's some dangerous stuff in there. What if there was too much power and it got out of control?"

Elphaba looked at him thoughtfully. "Why do you think I was afraid of this book when we first found it, Yero? This is now my responsibility. I know I'm not corrupt like Morrible, but that doesn't mean this is something I should be trusted with. That's why I didn't want to tell anyone. But I figured Glinda's too good to do anything bad. All she's going to do with this is levitate her makeup and turn things into cute baby animals. I just can't see how that's going to be an issue."

Fiyero laughed. "But what would you do?"

"I… I don't know. I'm not pure good. I'm a little wicked."

Fiyero raised his eyebrows.

"What?"

"You may be a little impulsive and strong-willed, but I wouldn't call you wicked."

"Definitely not," Glinda agreed.

"Maybe not. But I have the potential to be." Elphaba bit her lip.

Fiyero got up and put an arm around her. "What's with the morbidity all of the sudden, Fae?"

Elphaba shuddered and rested her head against his shoulder. "I don't know. Sometimes that book does things to me."

Fiyero eyed the book on Glinda's desk. He didn't get any sort of vibe from it one way or another. But to him it was merely an object. To her it was much more than that. "That's why you're careful with it. There's a reason you're the one who found it."

"But how do we know it's a good reason?"

Glinda grabbed the book off her desk and put it back in Elphaba's drawer. "You're just being silly, Elphaba."

"Promise me, then, that if something ever gets out of hand, if I ever try to use that book for anything more than convenience and with anything other than good intentions, that you will stop me. You will take it from me, Glinda. Promise."

"This is ridiculous…"

"Promise!"

"I promise, I promise."

Elphaba locked the drawer again. "Thank you."

Fiyero pulled Elphaba to him. "What about me? You don't want me to stop you?"

"No. I don't. Because she has the power to. She can do just as much as I can, as you just saw. I don't want to hurt you."

"Why would you hurt me?"

"I wouldn't. But maybe it would." She glanced over at the drawer.

"It's just a book."

"I'm not sure of that, Yero. Please just listen to me. If something ever happens and you think that book has changed me or affected me in any way, I want you to get Glinda."

He exchanged confused glances with Glinda, but nodded. "I will."


	33. Chapter 33: Not Subtle

**AN: I tend to write in these awkward conversations a lot. They're just too much fun. And I thought it was necessary, because Fiyero is right about there always being a crisis. Anyway, read on, review, so on and so forth. I'm stuck towards what I think might be the end and it's not moving, but I still have eight chapters before you guys get to that point.**

**Chapter 33: Not Subtle**

Everyone was saying goodbye again as their third year of school came to an end. Elphaba sat in Fiyero's room, listening to him complain (for the third summer in a row) about how frustrated he was that he couldn't write her. She merely sighed. "If something huge happens, I'll send you a letter through Boq. We'll be fine. We got through the past two summers. This is the last one, Fiyero. Think of it that way. After that I plan on doing whatever I damn well please."

Fiyero seemed to feel a little better thinking about this. "You're to see the Wizard after you graduate to make your final decision?"

She nodded. "And don't you even start telling me to be careful. It's a year away. I know you worry about me and I'm not mad at you for worrying, but the more you push me about it, the more likely I will get frustrated with you."

"I wasn't going to say anything."

"Oh." Elphaba bit her lip. "Sorry."

Fiyero laughed. "I'm sure I'll worry about it plenty later."

"You worry too much," Elphaba said. "Although I guess with me as a girlfriend, it comes with the territory."

"But I like your territory," he teased.

Elphaba raised her eyebrows at him. "You never stop, do you? Seriously, Fiyero, if you want it so badly, why don't you just come out and say so?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He feigned innocence.

"You do know, and maybe we should actually talk about it instead of you just subtly hinting at it. Well, not subtly. At all."

He flushed. "Sorry."

"It's fine, Yero. But you've been making these little comments for the entire year."

"I guess I have."

"So what do you want, Fiyero?"

"You know what I want. I want us to be together and happy and stable and I want… well, yeah, I want that other thing, too."

"Why don't you ever ask? We get close enough to it…" It was Elphaba's turn to flush.

He took her hands and looked her in the eyes. "Elphaba, I want to make love with you, okay? But I don't want to ask. I want it to just happen, and something tells me we just haven't been ready."

Elphaba cocked her head at him. "What do you mean?"

"Every time there's an opportunity, Fae, we're in the middle of some crisis."

"And why does that matter?"

Fiyero laughed. "Because I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of you because you're upset."

"Oh, Yero, you think I'd let you, if that was the case?"

He grinned. "Probably not."

"If I were to let you, it would be because I had already made up my mind about it before whatever 'crisis' happened. That isn't something I take lightly."

"Good to know, then."

"So next time, will you either try to let it happen or just freaking ask me? Because the hinting isn't the way to get what you want, Yero. And if you think I don't know what you want, believe me, I can tell."

"And do you want it, too?"

Elphaba looked at her hands. "Really, as a woman, I should not answer that question."

"And since when have you cared about gender roles?"

"Since they gave me a good excuse not to answer that question."

Fiyero laughed. "Elphie, why are you afraid to answer the question? It's me here. I'm not going to be upset, either way. One way I might be disappointed but I'll certainly accept it and it won't make me feel any different about you. The other way, well, I have to admit I'd be pretty happy."

"I do want to, okay? I've thought about it. It's hard not to think about it. And you said it, it needs to just happen. I'm not going to sit here with you in front of a calendar and say 'okay, this is the right day' and set a date for it. We just need to see what happens."

"I agree. So… now is out of the question?"

Elphaba glared at him. "Yes it is."

"I thought so. Damn, I'm going to hate this summer even more."

"Just because I said I want to doesn't mean I'm going to just fall into your bed the second we get back to school next year, Yero!"

"I'm teasing, Fae."

"Look, if I stay here any longer, Nessa and Nanny are going to be suspicious and Glinda can't exactly cover for me when she has to leave in an hour. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too." He kissed her. "I love you."

"Love you, too." She got up, kissed his forehead and left.

As she was on her way out, she glimpsed Boq giving a very, well, intimate hug to a girl in the doorway to his room. She waited for a moment as the girl walked away and snuck up on Boq before he could close the door. "Now, that certainly wasn't Glinda. Have you finally realized that there are other people out there?"

"What were you doing? Spying on me?" Boq folded his arms across his chest, cheeks puffed out almost comically.

"Oh, yes, Boq," she quipped, "I spend every minute watching you because I have absolutely no other reason to be in this building. It's not like Fiyero lives down the hall or anything."

Boq backed down. "Heh, yeah. Sorry, you just alarmed me a little. As you well know, we can't exactly get caught."

"Then you shouldn't say goodbye in the doorway, you should do so in your room," Elphaba reminded him.

"I know, I know. Sorry."

"So, are you going to tell me who that was or not? I feel like I may have seen her before." Elphaba tried to recollect where she had seen the auburn hair or the brown eyes, but couldn't quite remember.

"Her name is Milla, okay? She's a friend of Pfanee and Shen-Shen's."

"And Glinda's?" Elphaba asked a little suspiciously.

"Not really. And don't you give me that. This has nothing to do with Glinda. I'm over it. You were right, I didn't know her well at all, and I still don't. But Milla and I have had a few classes together and Pfanee and Shen-Shen have brought her along to lunch – which you'd know if you ever came to lunch anymore – so we've had plenty of time to talk."

"Just talk?"

"Well, we 'talk' a lot less than I'm guessing you and Fiyero do."

"Fiyero and I are not… as talkative as you might think."

"I've seen you sneak out once or twice in the morning."

"Now who's spying on whom?"

"I live here!"

"I know that. I'm kidding. And just because I may spend a night in that room here or there does not mean that anything is happening aside from sleeping."

"It doesn't necessarily mean it, but it does look like it."

"Boq, let me put it this way: If I got pregnant, it would be immaculate conception, okay? I'm not saying we haven't kissed. We've been dating two and a half years. Why in hell do you care?"

"Because if I've noticed you leaving the room –which, no matter what you are or are not doing does look bad – Elphaba, isn't it possible that other people have?"

Elphaba looked alarmed. "Has anyone said anything?"

"No. But I just worry, okay? You're still my friend. Both of you are. If you were to get caught, it would be pretty painful for both of you."

"If my father thought I was 'fornicating,' especially with Fiyero, who is, in my father's mind, a heathen, he'd probably have me stoned to death. Yeah, that sounds painful."

Boq winced. "You really think he'd do that to his own daughter?"

"Not his other daughter, but me, sure."

"Well, I'd like to see you alive."

"Fiyero most likely would agree with that sentiment. Oh, and if my father were to have that idea in his head and get his hands on Fiyero… that might be relatively painful, too."

Boq studied Elphaba. "This is a bigger risk for you than you said it was in the beginning. This is more than getting disowned, isn't it?"

"I can't know what he'd do. And I hope to never know. Fiyero and I will be more discreet when we're not actually doing anything in the first place."

Boq laughed. "And Milla and I will do the same."

"She knows about the whole situation, right?"

"Yes. That's why Pfanee and Shen-Shen were never told what's going on, despite the fact that they're best friends."

"I'm glad you've found someone, Boq."

Boq smiled. "So am I."


	34. Chapter 34: Curses

**Chapter 34: Curses**

When they first got back and Elphaba seemed strange and distant, Fiyero let it go. Perhaps something had happened with her family over the summer that had upset her. But after three weeks when she spent more time alone in her room than she did with him or with Glinda, he began to get confused. So, without the excuse of studying, he went to her room one afternoon after classes.

He had to knock three times before she answered, and she didn't seem quite focused when she looked at him. "Fiyero, hi. What are you doing here?"

"Do I need a reason to see you?"

"Oh, uh, I guess not." She let him in and went back to her desk. The Grimmerie was sitting open in front of her. She continued to stare at it.

"Fae, are you just going to sit there looking at that book all day?"

"So what if I am?" she snapped.

Fiyero bit his lip. "We really haven't spent much time together since we got back from summer break."

"I've been busy."

He walked up behind her and made to put a hand on her shoulder.

She twitched. "Do you have to look over my shoulder at this?"

Fiyero stepped away. "Okay, Elphaba, that's it. What is wrong?"

"Nothing." When she looked up at him again, he noticed that her eyes were blank. They were not just devoid of emotion, they were devoid of anything – she wasn't even there. It was as if something else was occupying her body.

He slowly backed away. "Elphaba, what spell is that?"

"A complicated one."

He paused. The one spell she still couldn't figure out was the one that both she and Glinda had agreed was almost certainly some sort of evil curse. This had to be what she was looking at. "You can read it?"

"Of course I can. There's nothing in this book I can't understand." Elphaba sounded defensive, almost offended, yet monotone at the same time. It was her voice, but it wasn't her inflection, or her tone.

"I know that. I'm sorry," he said gently. "What does that spell do?"

"It's a curse." She shrugged. "I thought it might be useful."

Fiyero swallowed hard. He knew he had to tread lightly. "Useful for what?"

"For dealing with Morrible. Or anyone else who gets in the way."

Fiyero's eyes widened and he was glad she wasn't looking at him. "Oh. So, where's Glinda? Maybe she can help."

"She cannot help," Elphaba responded simply. "I'm not sure where she is."

He tried to act normal. "Well, Fae, I have to go. I was just stopping in. I'll see you in class tomorrow. I love you."

"Uh huh."

Fiyero closed the door behind him and raced out into the hall. Had Elphaba been right all along about that book? Because that clearly wasn't the Elphaba he knew. But it was not his place to interfere. He did not know how. Glinda would, though. Just as Elphaba had said, Glinda was probably the only one who could help this situation. He couldn't have Elphaba in a trance for the rest of her life, and he certainly couldn't let her curse or kill someone. She'd end up either dead or in Southstairs. But if he went to anyone but Glinda, someone would find out about that book. And if it was as dangerous as he was starting to believe it was, no one else should touch it. He darted down the stairs towards Pfanee and Shen-Shen's room; it was the only place he knew to look for Glinda.

Glinda was not there when Pfanee opened the door. "Hi, Fiyero. What are you doing here?"

"Um, Elphaba needed Glinda's help with something but she doesn't know where to find her. She seems to worry that it's about to rain so I am trying to get Glinda for her. Do you know where she might be?"

"Oh, of course! She's out by Suicide Canal practicing her sorcery."

"Thanks, Pfanee." Before the girl could even respond, he'd closed the door and dashed out of the hallway. He ran as fast as he could to Suicide Canal and sighed in relief when he saw Glinda levitating a leaf over the water. "Glinda!"

"Fiyero?" She seemed confused.

"It's Elphaba. The book. Please, come." He gestured for her to follow.

She did. As the two of them trotted back to Crage, she asked. "What happened?"

"I don't exactly know. She isn't herself. That 'bad spell' you guys were talking about? I think she figured it out, and I think it did something to her. She's plotting to do something to Morrible. You have to get that book away from her."

Glinda began to walk a little faster. "Fiyero, maybe you shouldn't come with."

"What? No."

"I'm just saying that if this turns into some sort of sorcery battle, you will not be able to hold your own. I can."

"She won't hurt me."

"Like she said last year, she might not, but whatever that book did to her might."

"I'm going, Glinda. I don't care what you tell me. What if the book hurts her?"

"Fine!" Glinda stomped up the stairs.

"Try as hard as you can not to start a confrontation."

"I know how this works, Fiyero."

"Wait until you look at her, Glinda. Her eyes…" Fiyero trailed off as Glinda unlocked the door.

"Elphie! How are you?"

Elphaba looked up, eyes empty, at Glinda. "I thought you'd be gone for a while. I like being alone." Then she noticed Fiyero. "What are you doing back here?"

Glinda exchanged glances with Fiyero and stepped carefully towards her roommate, eyeing the book on the desk. "He thought we could all have dinner, that's all," she said sweetly.

"I'm not interested." Elphaba looked back at her desk, running her fingers over the page as her mouth moved silently.

"Can I look at the book again?" Glinda tried.

"No."

"But, Elphie…"

"No."

"What are you doing with that book, Elphaba?" Glinda gave up and got to the point.

"What does it look like? Reading it."

Glinda sighed. She had seen Elphaba's eyes and she was just as concerned as Fiyero was. It wasn't Elphaba behind those eyes. It was as if nothing were behind them. She gestured for Fiyero to step back a little and attempted to levitate the book towards herself.

Elphaba grabbed it. "What do you think you're doing?" She glanced at the bookshelf between them at it came tumbling to the ground, the books splayed all over the room.

"You know what I'm doing. And I know what you're doing. Let go of the book, Elphaba. It's for your own good."

"You just want it so you can take the power away from me!"

Glinda sent a small spark of electricity at Elphaba's hand, shocking her just enough for her to drop the book. Elphaba reacted by hissing and setting fire to the pillows on Glinda's bed. Fiyero darted into the bathroom the girls shared and threw water on it. Glinda winced at the scorched pillows, but she knew what she had to do next. While Elphaba went for the Grimmerie, Glinda began to pull Dr. Dillamond's old notebook towards her. Elphaba dropped the book and lunged for the notebook. Glinda was able to get the Grimmerie.

Elphaba whirled around. "How dare you?"

"Elphaba, please, you're not yourself."

"Oh, you don't even know me, Glinda."

Glinda tried not to be offended, reminding herself that it wasn't really her roommate talking. She hugged the Grimmerie to her and stood her ground. Fiyero reached for it, worried that it might affect Glinda the way it had Elphaba and knowing that, since he was completely inept at sorcery, it may not affect him.

Elphaba's eyes turned to ice. She sent her pyramid shaped emerald paperweight across the room aiming to smash Glinda's hand and force her to drop the book. But as Fiyero reached for it, the point of the pyramid stabbed Fiyero's hand, and he shouted as blood dripped down his hand.

All of the sudden, Elphaba began shaking. She stood staring at Fiyero in horror and finally ran to him. "Oh sweet Oz… Fiyero…"

Glinda breathed heavily and clutched the Grimmerie.

Elphaba grabbed Fiyero's hand. "I'm so sorry."

He looked into her eyes. He saw tenderness, concern, and quite a bit of self-hatred. He reached his uninjured hand to her chin. "You're you again."

"What?"

"Elphaba… did you know what you were doing?" Fiyero wiped the blood from his hand. The cut was merely superficial.

"Sort of. I didn't feel… right. It was like I was fuzzy."

"It was the book, Elphie," Glinda said. "It was like you were possessed."

"But look what I did." Elphaba looked around the room at Glinda's bed, at the bookshelf, at the paperweight on the floor.

Fiyero merely hugged her to him. "It's okay. You have no idea how worried I was. Since we came back to school you've been so strange. What happened this summer?" He let her go and pulled the bookshelf back to where it had stood.

"I don't know," Elphaba admitted. "I mean, I was looking through the book a lot. I wasn't allowed out of my room much because of the whole city thing last year, and I had nothing else to do." She looked at Glinda's pillows and muttered the same transformation spell that had created the cat (who was hiding with his fur standing on end underneath Glinda's desk) and Glinda's pillows were even fluffier and lacier than before.

Glinda picked up some of the books off of the floor and began replacing them on the shelves. "I think we need to put this book away for some time. Somewhere safe."

Elphaba nodded and helped her roommate. "Glinda, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, Elphie. The same thing could've happened to me."

"I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I've always had this… this darkness in me. You haven't. The book dragged it out. What could it have dragged out of you?"

"You're being ridiculous. There is nothing bad about you."

Elphaba hugged herself. "I don't know about that." After a deep breath with her eyes closed, she said, "I need to take a walk."

"I'll go with you," Fiyero offered.

Elphaba nodded. "That's fine."

"And I'll find somewhere else to hide this thing," Glinda decided.

"We've got to get into the Three Queens library and research some of the Vinkun history in there. Maybe we can find something about this."

"We're not allowed in there."

"Let me get some books out for you tomorrow, okay?" Fiyero smiled at Elphaba. "We need to catch up a little right now, considering we haven't had a real conversation since last year ended."

"I'll walk over to your room with you." Elphaba surveyed the dorm room and seemed satisfied that it was clean. "Are you sure you can handle the book alone, Glinda?"

"I think so. It only affected you after you had it for a really long time."

Elphaba looked reluctant, but she looked at the open cut on Fiyero's hand, small as it was, and sighed. "Okay. Be careful, you promise?"

"If I even get the feeling that something is up, I'll burn this thing!"

"No! I know it's dangerous, but there are a lot of valuable spells in there."

Fiyero thought for a moment. "Why don't I take it? I don't know that it could do much to me. Both of you are good with magic; I'm not. There's not much I could do even if it did get to me. I'll lock it away."

Glinda handed him the book. "I'm trusting you with this. And with her."


	35. Chapter 35: Save Me

**AN: At the risk of giving away too much… this chapter is rated M. **

**Chapter 35: Save Me**

As Fiyero and Elphaba exited the building, Fiyero put the Grimmerie in his bag so it would stay hidden. He turned to Elphaba. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Her face was flushed, but she nodded. "I think so. Fiyero, I don't know what happened."

"You warned us, Elphaba. You told us you thought there was something wrong with that book. We didn't believe you."

"You figured it out soon enough. And you did the right thing by getting Glinda. I'm glad you didn't try to take it from me yourself."

"I thought Glinda might have an idea of how to get it away from you without having to literally wrestle it from you."

Elphaba looked at him. How could she have hurt him, accidentally or otherwise? And why was it his injury that had made her snap out of it? "You and Glinda saved me from myself."

"That wasn't you. That was the book."

She sighed. "I hope so."

Fiyero led her into his room, put down his bag and grabbed her hands. "Why do you think you're so evil, Elphaba?"

"Ever since I laid my hands on that book, I felt like it found something inside of me. And I didn't see it in Glinda. But it was in me."

"That's in your head, Fae."

She sat down on his bed. "That's possible. I'm just… I'm afraid of myself, sometimes."

"Don't be. You stopped, Elphaba. Glinda taking the book away worked. And maybe seeing someone hurt brought you back."

"Was it seeing someone hurt, Fiyero, or was it seeing _you_ hurt?"

He paused.

"It was you, Fiyero. Something in me broke when the thought hit me of you in pain, you getting injured because of me. Everything got clear again. Fiyero, you don't understand. It wasn't Glinda who helped me get out of it. It was you." She looked up at him, helpless, and kissed him softly. "I love you. And that's what did it."

He smiled a little. "You really think so?"

She nodded. "You think I'd admit to that if I didn't?"

Fiyero grabbed her and kissed her hard.

Elphaba responded readily, opening her mouth, dragging a hand through his hair. She leaned back slightly. He got the message and pushed her down gently, his body covering hers. She felt his fingers begin to unbutton her blouse and she lifted his shirt over his head when they broke the kiss for a moment. Slowly, she touched her lips to every blue diamond, moving downwards, running her tongue along each of them, only stopping when she felt his hands on her belly, moving upwards, tickling her. After a moment, his mouth was on her breasts and she arched her hips, unable to help herself.

Fiyero looked at her, feeling the way her body responded. Was that an invitation? Should he say something? He decided not to. They had both agreed it should just happen. So instead he began to remove her skirt completely.

Elphaba unbuttoned his trousers and helped him pull himself out of them. She made to finish undressing him, but lost her train of thought when she felt his hands between her thighs, his fingers rubbing against her, slipping inside of her. Her breath quickened and she moaned when he kissed his way down her body. He finished undressing himself as he began to tease her with his tongue, pressing inside of her and she squealed. Though she felt her body climbing to some sort of threshold, she stopped him several minutes later, pulling him back up to face her. "Grab a towel or something."

He looked confused.

"I don't want to stain anything…"

Fiyero stared at her naked body, realizing what she was talking about. He opened his mouth to say something but thought the better of it and did as she asked. She took the towel from him and laid on top of it, taking his hand and bringing him back to her. He smiled lovingly. "Fae, I love you."

She pressed her hips against his, burning with desire. "I love you, too."

He lifted her hips just a little more, kissing her as he moved inside her. She winced for a moment, feeling something within her tear. Fiyero waited a moment, kissing down her neck before he pulled back and pushed in again. Elphaba's eyes widened. The ways he had touched and kissed her before were nothing compared to the feeling of him inside her fully. She pressed her hips against him harder, wrapping her hands around his waist, pulling him into her further each time he thrust. She was panting, whimpering, and at some point her arms fell to her sides. "Fiyero…"

His body gleamed with sweat as he moved over her, pressing into her over and over again. The diamonds tasted salty when she kissed them. She felt one of his hands below the small of her back, pulling her hips to him. The other brushed hair away from her face. "Sweet Oz, Elphaba," he murmured, "oh, Fae."

She gulped as she felt something rise within her slowly, and screamed a little bit as it finally hit her in waves, her whole body clenching and shuddering. He smiled down at her, still moving, and she shivered. "Yero my hero."

"I love you," he responded.

Their hips were crashing together faster. Again, something began to build, tingling in every cell of her body. Finally after what felt like forever of the slow wonderfully burning buildup, she felt the same ecstasy, but perhaps stronger, shoot through her again. She threw her head back and this time really screamed. As her muscles tightened, she saw Fiyero's eyes widen as he groaned. She felt warm liquid shoot through her. For a moment, they stayed like that and he gently wiped the sweat from her face, the hair from in front of her eyes. She did the same to him. She whimpered slightly as he finally left her body, still kissing along her jaw. A moment later, he collapsed beside her.

He looked at her, dried sweat sticky on her body. She readjusted and pulled the towel from beneath her. When Fiyero saw the spot of blood on it, he bit his lip. "Are you okay?"

Elphaba still couldn't find words and merely nodded. It had really only felt like the pinch of a needle for a short moment.

"I love you so much."

"I love you, too, Yero," she replied, still catching her breath. Elphaba turned to the clock. "It's late…" How long had they been…? The clock said over an hour had passed since she had last glanced at it.

"Stay with me tonight, please."

"I'm so tired and sore I probably would not do well walking back to Crage right now, anyway."

"Think Glinda will cover for you?"

"Yes. If she needs to. Nanny's been a little better lately. Considering I've barely left my room for anything but class the past few weeks, she doesn't really worry about me." She felt herself yawn and stretched herself out. "I could fall asleep just like this."

Fiyero grinned. "Oh, please do. I will be the happiest guy in the world waking up to you naked."

She wriggled around on the bed, finding a good spot. "I will if you will."

"Mmm, gladly." Fiyero kissed her one last time before she fell quickly to sleep.

In the morning, she woke first and stretched out. It woke him and he turned on his side, propping his head up with his hand. The blanket had fallen down to his waist, and she had completely kicked it off of herself at some point during the night. She smiled. "Good morning."

He grinned. "Very good morning."

Elphaba laughed.

"So," he teased, "whatever happened to not jumping into bed the moment we got back from the summer holidays?"

"I waited three weeks!"

He raised his eyebrows. "That doesn't exactly count, the state you were in."

She sighed. "I couldn't help myself." Elphaba leaned up to kiss him.

He pulled back a little. "Fae, if you kiss me, completely naked, first thing in the morning, after what happened last night… I will not be able to help myself, and I don't want to hurt you by doing this again too quickly. I don't know how sore you are, but really, it might not be a good idea to kiss me unless…"

Elphaba's face fell. "Oh, oops." She turned away for a moment, then surprised him by pouncing on top of him, straddling him and kissing him deeply, her hips sinking down against him, tempting him. "Unless what, Yero?"

He seemed shocked, but quickly got over that and smiled happily. "Unless you want a repeat performance."

"Think you can do as well as you did last night?" She challenged.

"Think you can handle it?"

"I don't know, I almost hope not."


	36. Chapter 36: Girl Talk

**AN: I have officially finished writing this (unless someone begs me to drag it out). But really, it's done. Makes me sad, but it will leave me time to work on other stories. And come up with new ideas. There will be 44 chapters. I hope you will enjoy them.**

**Another scene I always write, because it's fun.**

**Chapter 36: Girl Talk**

When Elphaba finally returned to Crage late in the afternoon, she was exhausted and a little frazzled. Fiyero had offered to walk back to her room with her and sit around for a while, but she refused. Just because they were lovers now didn't mean he had to spend every moment with her. She didn't' mention that she was a little scared. It was real now. She couldn't marry Boq, or anyone her father chose. Her father would probably put her to death if she wasn't a virgin on her wedding night and he found out. And any arranged marriage for her would be consummated at Clowen Grounds. It would be obvious enough from the lack of blood on the sheets. Plus, her father had been threatening to send her to a doctor to check to make sure things were as they should be. Doctors can tell, and she had no doubt her father would ask. There was no going back now.

Glinda looked up at her when she entered. She giggled and raised her eyebrows. "You look a little… flustered."

Elphaba folded her arms across her chest. "Oh, leave it."

The blonde smiled. "Oh, Elphie, you can't hide something like that from me. Just look at you."

"I've spent nights there before," Elphaba shrugged.

"You didn't come back looking like this."

"Wearing the same clothes I did the day before?"

"Wearing your skirt backwards."

Elphaba's cheeks darkened. "Oh, that… I, um, well I must've… oh, stop laughing, Glinda!" She grabbed some oils and some clothes to change into and stomped into the bathroom. Well, at least Glinda didn't seem mad at her for what had gone on yesterday with the Grimmerie. After cleaning herself up, she sighed and stepped back out of the bathroom, hands on her hips. "Why do you assume that Fiyero and I had sex?"

"You've been dating for almost three years. Yesterday was pretty intense, Elphaba. And you really think you can walk back in here almost twenty-four hours later looking like that without me thinking that something happened?"

Elphaba sat down on her bed. "Why do you care, Glinda?"

"You're my best friend, Elphie. If I'm right – which, by the way, I know I am – then that's pretty serious. It's a huge moment in your life."

"Fine, Glinda. We did. I don't see why I need to tell you about it."

"You did? Really?" Glinda's eyes widened and she jumped next to Elphaba on the bed. "Tell me about it! I want to know everything."

"We had sex. What more is there?"

"A lot! Was it good? Did it hurt? Was he gentle? Did you initiate it or did he? What does it feel like?"

"Whoa, Glinda, slow down. First of all, I don't think some of that is your business."

"Throw me a bone, here, Elphie. I kissed a boy when I was twelve and that's it. Come on, this is girl talk!"

Elphaba shook her head, but smiled. "Okay, okay. I'm answering the questions I want to answer, okay?"

Glinda nodded eagerly.

"Since this really pertains just to me and not to him, yes, Glinda, it did hurt. But only for a moment. It was like… like getting a shot of milkweed from the doctor."

"That doesn't sound too scary."

"Except that when you're a little kid and you've never had a shot before, it seems really scary."

"Were you scared?"

"Actually, no. Not until later when it kind of hit me."

"Are you scared now?"

"A little. I mean, in Unionist tradition, if I'm not a virgin on my wedding night, I could get in a lot of trouble. I don't know what it's like in the Vinkus or any other area, but in my father's eyes, it's a huge deal."

"Would he find out?"

"If I did what he wanted me to, yes."

"Then don't do it, Elphie! Besides, you'll marry Fiyero anyway and your father can't really do anything to you in the Vinkus."

"We aren't getting married, Glinda."

"Not yet."

Elphaba rolled her eyes.

"We'll talk about that later. Was it good, Elphie? Please, I just want to know what it's like."

Elphaba looked at her hands, flushing. "It was worth it," she said simply.

"Did you initiate it, Elphie, or did Fiyero?"

"I think we both did."

"How romantic! Was he gentle with you? He better have been good to you!"

"He was good to me, Glinda. This is Fiyero we're talking about. What do you expect? He couldn't hurt me if his life depended on it."

Glinda hugged Elphaba fiercely. "Oh, Elphie, I'm so happy for you."

"You're happy I lost my virginity?"

"You seem happy. I want you to be happy."

"Thanks, I guess." Elphaba fidgeted. "About what happened with the book yesterday…"

"Elphaba, that wasn't your fault. I felt it, too. That book is dangerous. It's probably best that Fiyero has it. Without magic skills, he probably can't get into too much trouble with it. And then if we do want to use it, he can keep an eye on us."

Elphaba nodded.

"It seemed like yesterday you pretty much snapped out of it the minute I took the book from you."

"Not quite, Glinda. I think the book has to be a little further from me than that."

"Then what happened to break your trance? You'd been pretty much half asleep for weeks. Or do you even know? I mean, were you even able to tell what was going on?"

"I think it was Fiyero, Glinda. When I hurt him with the paperweight, I broke a little."

"See! You guys are meant to be together."  
>"Stop with that. I don't believe in that stuff. I just think that I couldn't handle being responsible for him getting hurt again and it was enough for me to snap and fight."<p>

"We need to be more careful. If things had gotten out of hand yesterday and Morrible had found out, think of the trouble we'd get in."

"And then she'd know about the Grimmerie."

"You really think Fiyero might be able to get us some material on ancient Vinkuns? Maybe there's something hidden in those history books that might tell us how to handle this."

"I hope so." Elphaba stood up when she heard a knock on the door. It was Nanny. "Hello, Nanny."

"I saw you walking back here from the window a little while back. Where were you?"

"The library." Elphaba only hoped Nanny hadn't gotten a good view of her disheveled appearance earlier.

Nanny looked at Glinda, expecting her to affirm or deny Elphaba's answer.

"She was. She wanted to find some stuff on the history of sorcery, but there really isn't much in the Crage library."

"I haven't seen you all morning."

"Maybe because you haven't been by the room? Besides, I spent hours in that library trying to find just the smallest bit of information. There's nothing but fluff."

Though she still seemed skeptical, Nanny said, "That's unfortunate. Please let me know if you're going to be gone for that long. Your father would kill me if you disappeared."

"I'm not going to run off again."

"Why should I believe that?"

"I have Nessa here. And Glinda. And…" She couldn't very well add Fiyero's name to that list. "And Boq."

"That didn't stop you before."

Again, she couldn't continue and tell Nanny that things were different now. She and Fiyero were more serious. Glinda was her best friend. The sorcery lessons she was getting from Morrible were finally starting to actually seem useful. She just sighed. "I guess not. Look, didn't Glinda promise to tell you if she thought I'd run off again?"

"She did, but I think she trusts in you too much."  
>Glinda looked offended but said nothing.<p>

"Nanny, I still need to study," Elphaba snapped.

"Sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were alive. I apologize for the inconvenience. Next time I'll just assume you're dead." Nanny left the room.

"Thanks, Glinda." Elphaba smiled at her roommate.

"I always do that. You'd do the same for me. Not that I ever seem to find a boy."

"Oh, Glinda, that's because there just isn't anyone good enough."

Glinda giggled. "Yeah, you're probably right."


	37. Chapter 37: Stay

**Chapter 37: Stay**

Fiyero made good on his promise and brought Glinda and Elphaba whatever books he could find on ancient Vinkun history. The three of them pored through them for days, looking for the smallest nugget of information that might give them some insight into the sorcery of the ancients or the Grimmerie.

"What do you make of this: 'Vinkuns once used to use sorcery to hunt,'?" Fiyero read aloud.

"May I see it?" Elphaba reached for the book.

Glinda thought for a moment. "I can't think of any spells in the Grimmerie that had to do with hunting, unless you consider the transformation spell a way to just put animals in front of them and kill them."

"That just sounds lazy," Fiyero opined.

Elphaba scanned the book. "That's all it says. Then it goes on to talk about how the Vinkuns hunt today. Damn." She flipped through the pages. "It doesn't seem like there's much else in here." She sighed and passed the book back to Fiyero.

They sat in silence again until Glinda found the next lead. "Listen to this: 'The ancient Vinkuns have long since disappeared. While no one knows exactly what happened to them , several theories have been thrown about. One is that a famine coupled with diseased killed them off. Another is much less likely, but more intriguing. Myths speak of the ancients doing powerful magic. Some renowned sorcerers believe that it was this magic that may have caused their tragic end.'"

"What does it say after that?" Elphaba craned her neck over Glinda's shoulder.

"'There are rumors of a certain spellbook that held enormous power. The book was rumored to be magic in and of itself. But the power from the book could overcome its users. A specific spell from the book had to be changed to 'purify' the user so that they would not be taken by the book and would not use the spells for evil. But the ancients were greedy and did not want to purify themselves. The dark magic overtook them and they destroyed the land and the people until nothing was left.'"

Elphaba's eyes widened. "What else? Glinda, keep reading!"

"'But of course, that is merely a fantastical myth. Most scholars agree that it was famine and disease that wiped out the ancient Vinkuns.' And that's all it says about it."

"It's not much, but it's something."

"A spell that would purify us and protect us from the book… It's in the book. What spell could it be? I don't remember any spell like that."

"It has to be hidden somehow."

"We have to find it and use it."

"Do we really want to?" Elphaba questioned.

"What?"

"I mean, what if there's more to the spell than just protecting us? And what if the spell's idea of evil and ours is different?"

Glinda folded her arms across her chest. "Elphie, that's exactly what got the ancient people killed."

Fiyero nodded. "Fae, it's the safer option. Or don't use the book at all."

Elphaba sighed. "I know. I want to read through it first. I don't trust this whole thing. If that spell even exists in the first place."

"Can you bring the book over at some point in the next few days, Fiyero? You'd have to hang out here for a while so that Elphaba and I can look through it. You would be the one who'd be able to notice if it does something to us." Glinda turned to Fiyero.

"No problem. Do you have classes on Thursday afternoon? We don't."

"When did you memorize my schedule?" Elphaba demanded.

"Fae, you're in half of my classes."

"That's true."

"Plus you spend enough nights in his room for him to figure it out," Glinda teased.

Elphaba rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of, do you want to come over later?" Fiyero asked.

"Subtle," Elphaba laughed.

"Will you?"

"Come over? Yes. That's as far as that promise goes."

After they made love, Elphaba played with the scarves that Fiyero left on his bed after he had untied her hands. She had actually enjoyed relinquishing control for once. "These are beautiful."

"So are you," he told her.

"I just wasn't quite focused on how lovely they were earlier."

"I'm glad. I'd much rather you have been focused on something else."

She put her head on his chest and listened to his heart beat for a moment. The sound relaxed her, kept her grounded, kept her from thinking too much and allowed her to actually enjoy the present moment. He ran his hands through her hair while she drew patterns along the diamonds on his chest. Elphaba tried not to think about the Grimmerie, her family, the Wizard, the Animals or Morrible. Those worries had no place in bed. "Mm. I feel so peaceful."

Fiyero kissed the top of her head. "So do I."

No wonder people liked sex so much. Not only did it feel good during, the aftereffects were soothing, as well. Although she realized that perhaps the soothing aspect was being with Fiyero, not necessarily sex in general. She couldn't imagine sleeping with someone else. She hadn't ever imagined sleeping with anyone until she'd met him. While she'd always been curious, she'd never thought she'd bother with sex or love. "I love you, Yero."

"I love you, too, Fae," Fiyero murmured. "I always will."

"You can't guarantee that."

"I can."

Elphaba didn't want to argue. "If you say so."

"After graduation, Fae, what's going to happen?"

"That's months away. And what do you mean?"

"With us."

"Nothing. We'll be the same."

"I don't see how that will work. You may or may not need to go back East. You know I have to go back to Kiamo Ko. If we want to stay together, one of us is going to have to make a huge decision."

So much for the present moment. "I can't tell you what I'm going to do when I don't know what the Wizard is going to tell me. I told you I'd ask about the West and if perhaps he could use me out there, instead. But I can't know if he'll agree to that."

"So we're in limbo? We don't even know if we can stay together?"

"What do you want me to do? Go see the Wizard over the fall holidays and talk to him?"

"You don't have to take the position."

"Yero, I love you, but I have plans. I'm not throwing everything away. I wish I could have everything I want and not have these conflicts. Please, let me see what happens and if it doesn't go well, we'll figure it out from there. There's nothing that says you can't leave your kingdom and come be with me."

"You'd rather live near your family instead of near mine?"

Elphaba giggled. "Not at all. But I want so much, Yero."

"I do, too. I want to be king because I know I could be fair and I want to bring the Vinkus into the modern age with the rest of Oz so that we can be as respected as the ancients were. I want to be with you, and I want you to be happy."

"I can't promise you anything. How can I? I don't even know what my future is, Yero."

He sighed heavily. "I guess."

She sat up. "Fiyero, do you really think I'd be lying here right now if I didn't think we'd be together? I can't promise you anything, but I want to be with you just as much as you want to be with me. Can we please enjoy this time instead of worrying? If, Oz forbid, we can't stay together, do you really want to waste all this time obsessing over the future?"

Fiyero smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

"It's fine. I understand why you're concerned, but there is nothing we can do right now."

He pulled her back down close to him again. "I'm going to just assume it'll work out. After all, karma owes us after everything we dealt with."

"I don't know. We got to be together. Isn't that enough?"

"Staying together would be enough."


	38. Chapter 38: Reckless

AN: So I completely forgot to update yesterday and such. I'm updating twice today. I've been so busy. I've been trying to start on "Forced Love" again and I am fighting with my past self about how fast they moved there. I can't exactly take it back (well, I guess I could but so many people have already read it… if it were still in the editing stage, I would), but I can try and work through it, though it's slow going. Maybe I'll take a look at "Truth or Dare" or "Your Life Could End Up Changing"… not sure. Anyway, for now, here's this.

**Chapter 38: Reckless**

As the winter holidays approached, Elphaba and Glinda continued to study the Grimmerie for the spell alluded to in the history book. The girls stayed up night after night while Fiyero watched or studied for his economics class. Nothing seemed to pop out at them.

"I give up," Glinda grumbled late one Friday night. "We're not getting anywhere."

"Unless we burn ourselves with fire, I really don't see how this spell would work…" Elphaba turned the page.

"What about that transformation spell? The one you used for Malky and to fix Glinda's pillows?"

"How could that 'purify' us?"

"Well, what if the thing needed to purify you is an object?"

"What words am I supposed to ask it to do? Asking it to create a cat or pillows makes sense, but how do I say 'whatever in Kumbrica's arse we need to purify ourselves'?"

"You say that."

"You're insane."

"I'll try it and see what happens. Give me something to transform," Glinda demanded. Fiyero handed her a pencil from Elphaba's desk, ignoring that Elphaba glared at him when he did so. Glinda grabbed the Grimmerie from Elphaba, who at this point didn't protest. She muttered the spell and pointed at the pencil. A vial of potion appeared. "It worked!" She made to grab it.

Elphaba snatched it first. "Glinda, don't! You're just going to take some random potion that appeared from a spell? You don't even know what this really is!"

Glinda's face fell. "That's true. But what choice do we have?"

Elphaba turned to Fiyero. "Fiyero, how would you feel if I were to just take this random potion that could very well kill me?" Elphaba asked sweetly.

Fiyero took the potion from her. "Not happening."

"See? Fiyero agrees."

"Fiyero agrees because you scared him and he loves you too much not to worry," Glinda huffed.

"Well, I also worry, and I worry about _you_." Elphaba folded her arms across her chest.

Fiyero sighed, looking from one girl to the other. "Don't put me in the middle of this. Both of you scare me."

Elphaba glared at him. "I'm your girlfriend and you're afraid of me?"

"Either one of you angry is not something I want to endure." Fiyero held up his hands.

Glinda sighed. "Well, then what do we do now?"

Elphaba took the bottle from Fiyero and grabbed a ceramic mug from her bookshelf. "I want to at least see what this looks like." She poured the bottle into the mug. The liquid was a murky, thick purple, though it smelled deceptively sweet.

Glinda swished the liquid around in the mug. "We need to do something with it. This is the only solution we've come up with."

"Or you just get rid of the book," Fiyero suggested.

Both girls glared at him.

"Or not."

"We could give it to Malky and see if he gets sick or dies…" Glinda thought aloud.

"So his life is less valuable than ours?" Elphaba grumbled.

"Well, what else is there?"

Elphaba sighed. "I don't know."

Glinda put the cup down on the floor and the cat instantly ran towards it. Elphaba turned away as the cat lapped a few sips of the liquid, clenching her fists. She turned back when there was a flash of light. The cat was still there, as if nothing had changed.

"See? Malky's fine!" Glinda grabbed the cup and, before Elphaba could stop her, took three sips of the liquid. The light flashed again and when it was gone, Glinda stood in the same spot.

Elphaba ran over to her and grabbed the mug. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I feel… lighter."

"Glinda," Elphaba hid her face in her hands and took a deep breath, "that was the stupidest thing you have ever done. How do you know there aren't any long term effects?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

Fiyero took Elphaba's hand. "Calm down. There's nothing you can do about it now."

Elphaba looked at Glinda, trying to stay calm. "I can't believe you did that."

Fiyero threw his arm around Elphaba's waist. "Glinda, that was a little reckless."

Glinda looked at her feet. "I know. But… I don't feel like it hurt me."

Elphaba pulled away from Fiyero gently and sat down on her bed, still breathing slowly as if trying to keep herself in control. "Does it feel any different when you touch the book? You said you could sense something bad in that spell, in that book, although not as much as I could… are those feelings still there?"

Fiyero handed Glinda the book and sat beside Elphaba, resting a hand on her shoulder comfortingly as she leaned into him. "I guess trying at this point can't hurt, can it?"

Glinda looked at Elphaba for a moment, concerned. "I didn't mean to upset you, Elphie."

"When everyone around me goes off almost getting themselves killed, it upsets me!"

"I didn't almost get myself killed!"

"How do you know?"

"I just… do."

Elphaba grumbled, "Sure."

"Well, excuse me, I'm going to look at this, then." Glinda opened the book and began flipping through the pages. She paused as she came to the supposed "curse" and studied it. "I don't feel that scary feeling, Elphie."

"Maybe you're just tricking yourself into thinking that."

"No, Elphie, I mean it! I couldn't even use this spell if I tried."

"I think she means it, Fae," Fiyero said helpfully.

"Oh, so now you want me to drink the damn thing?"

"Well… maybe not." Fiyero bit his lip for a moment, then kissed her. "Hell, go ahead. You do enough crazy things."

Elphaba glared at him, but grabbed the mug and swallowed three gulps. Light flashed again and she felt pretty much the same. Well, not quite, but she couldn't put a finger on how it felt. The purple liquid tasted like pure sugar, almost too sweet. Fiyero was still holding her hand, actually squeezing it so hard she had no circulation. "Fiyero, you can stop clutching me for dear life."

"Sorry." He let go. "So…?"

"Just give me the damn book." Elphaba wrenched the book out of Glinda's arms.

"No need to be so angry about it," Glinda shook her head.

Elphaba was already looking through the book, turning the pages until she reached the page that had caused her nightmares for months. As she looked it over, nothing changed. She didn't feel the shadows that had once darkened her thoughts. "Glinda…"

"I'm right. I know."

Elphaba sent her a piercing look. "It was still stupid to do what you did."

"It worked."

"And if it hadn't?"

"Oh, don't be so cynical!"

Elphaba seemed a little shaken, so Fiyero wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay. We're all fine. No one got hurt."

"Well, it could've been worse!"

Glinda sighed. "I'm sorry, Elphie."

"It's okay, so long as you're fine."

She hugged Elphaba. "I am. And so are you. So is Malky!"

The cat was purring at Glinda's feet. Elphaba merely shook her head at it, "You are all going to drive me completely nuts."


	39. Chapter 39: Addressing the Obvious

**Chapter 39: Addressing the Obvious**

The winter holidays came and Glinda went home, meaning there was no one to cover for Elphaba if she wanted to sneak into Fiyero's room. Nanny had taken it upon herself to watch Elphaba go to the library and Elphaba couldn't easily sneak from the library over to Fiyero's, so he snuck into her room. It was easier for him to just hide in a closet if Nanny came to check on her. He just had to make sure he went to her door at a time when Nanny wasn't paying close attention to her.

Some nights he'd just sleep there, although not every night. Elphaba lectured him when he asked to do that, shaking her head and saying, "What, now we're married?" Fiyero was content with two or three nights a week. She didn't want to see him every day, and he could understand that. Most of the time they saw each other it entailed nothing too physical – sex was great, but Fiyero knew that it wasn't everything, and if things worked out, they'd have plenty of time on their own for that.

Fiyero woke one morning to find Elphaba curled up against him, hiding her face in his arms like he was some sort of shield, shivering. He wondered if he should wake her. When he moved to gently move her hair out of her face, Elphaba twitched and opened her eyes. "Are you okay, Fae?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"It just seemed like you were having some sort of nightmare."

Elphaba closed her eyes. He was right, she had been, but every second it got less clear what it had been about. Something about a broom and a bubble and Nessa… she shook her head. "I think I was. I don't know. It's no big deal."

Fiyero looked at her, a little concerned. "If you say so."

Elphaba didn't want to admit that something about the dream shook her. Instead she kissed Fiyero and got up. "Can you believe we're about to start our last semester?"

"Can you believe we've been together three years?" He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

She tilted her head and looked up at him. "It feels like less, somehow."

"I want it to be forever," he murmured into her hair.

She squirmed a little, but stayed with him. "Yero…"

"I know, I know, we don't know what's going to happen."

"Exactly. But you know I want to stay with you."

"Forever?"

"Stop with that, Fiyero. I don't know what you want me to say."

"I want you to say what you mean. And I want you to tell me that if things work out, we can be together for the rest of our lives."

Elphaba finally twisted away from him and turned to face him. "What are you asking me, Yero?"

He sighed. "Nothing."

She bit the side of her lip. "Okay, because it sounded an awful lot like you were… never mind that. This is silly."

"Right," Fiyero agreed, trying to ease the tension that had just built up. He had almost asked her… but he hadn't. It certainly wasn't the right time, anyway. "I love you."

"I love you, too. And I did want to tell you something. Morrible said Glinda and I are to meet with the Wizard during spring break."

"So we'll know a little more definitively what's going to happen after that?"

"Yes."

"Good. I didn't want to have to wait until after graduation to find out. Oz only knows how crazy things will be then when you and Boq talk to your father and Boq's parents. You don't need that on your shoulders when you head into the City."

Nanny knocked at the door then. Elphaba gave Fiyero a look and he slid into the closet. She went to the door. "I'm still here, Nanny. I haven't escaped."

"I thought I heard you talking."

"I was practicing my spells."

Nanny eyed her and then stepped into the room. "I need to speak with you about something, Fabala."

Elphaba tried not to look concerned as Nanny sat down on her bed and patted the spot next to her. "What is it?"

"That boy."

"What boy?"

"You can come out, Master Fiyero," Nanny called.

Elphaba sighed, realizing there was no point in hiding, and went to the closet, "Yero, just come out here."

Fiyero emerged from the closet looking guilty, giving Nanny a little bow. "Hello."

"You think I haven't known about you two for years?" Nanny asked, arms folded across her chest. "It's been quite obvious."

Fiyero sat down in Elphaba's desk chair.

Elphaba's mouth hung open. "Nanny…"

"I didn't say anything for a reason, dearie. If I pretended not to know, I wouldn't feel bad not telling your father."

Elphaba looked at her lap. "I appreciate that, Nanny."

"But you'll be graduating soon. I think it is time I spoke to the both of you."

Fiyero nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Don't fuss with formalities, Fiyero."

"Sorry."

"I've known since I arrived here that there was something going on between you two. I saw the way you would look at one another when your whole little group went out. I saw that Fiyero seemed to need a lot more studying help than Boq despite the fact that he seemed twice as intelligent. I saw that you, Fabala, didn't always go to the library when you said you were. And as of late, I've seen you sneak back here some mornings."

"It's not what you think…" Elphaba began.

"Save it for your father. Oz only knows how he'll react when he finds out you aren't a virgin. But it isn't my job to tell him. I can only hope that the two of you have been careful enough not to give him any illegitimate grandchildren."

"I… we have," Elphaba admitted, flushing.

"Good. Now I don't know what you plan to do about this come graduation, but no matter what you do, it won't be easy. You can break your father's heart and disobey his wishes or you can go along with what he wants, but even that won't go well. You can't hide certain things from your father. Doctors can tell him what I won't."

"If you'll excuse me, Nanny, I love Elphaba very much," Fiyero interjected.

"And that's good for you. But it doesn't mean everything will be all fine and dandy."

Elphaba sighed. "I know."

"What exactly is your plan, Elphaba?"

"I'm not marrying Boq."

"You'll be marrying Master Fiyero, then?"

"Not necessarily…"

Nanny sighed. "Well, how do you intend to tell your father and Boq that you will not be following through on the vow your father made?"

"Boq already knows. We'll be telling him together, along with Boq's parents."

Nanny nodded. "Would you let me talk to Fiyero for a few moments?"

Elphaba shook her head. "Why do you need to?"

"I don't have to give you a reason."

"Fine," Elphaba grumbled. "I'll be with Nessa."

When the door closed, Nanny turned to Fiyero, who shrunk under her gaze. "So, you have deflowered Elphaba."

"That's not the way I would put it," Fiyero replied defensively.

"How long ago?"

"Why is that any of your business?"

"Because I am her Nanny and her business is my business unless you want her father finding out before she is ready to tell him."

"Two or three months ago."

"That's what I thought. What are your intentions?"

"I…" Fiyero swallowed hard. "I want to ask her to marry me." That was the first time he'd said it aloud. "Once we find out about this business with the Wizard, anyway."

"That does make things a little complicated, doesn't it?"

"I think things were complicated already."

Nanny cackled. "You are correct. And you love her?"

"More than anything in the world."

"I recall something about you having to marry a girl from your homeland."

"That's been dealt with."

Nanny eyed Fiyero and could not seem to find anything she disliked. "As much as I'm going to hate what's gone on here, since Frex will find out and he may well be angry with me for not noticing – which is what I'll tell him – I think you'll suit Fabala well enough."

"Thanks, I think."


	40. Chapter 40: Bargaining

**Chapter 40: Bargaining**

By the time spring break rolled around, Nanny and Nessa had also been invited to see the Wizard. At Glinda's urging, Nessa had started a sorcery class with Madame Morrible, as well, and had shown some promise, and of course she could not go anywhere without Nanny. This relieved Fiyero a little bit, knowing that there were more people to watch over Elphaba. But the truth was that he genuinely believed she meant it when she said she wouldn't run. He watched them leave again, but with less of a sense of dread than he had felt the first time.

Again, the girls were escorted in (without Nanny, who waited in the entrance hall) to the same room and were seated across from both the Wizard and Madame Morrible. Only Nessa was really nervous this time. Elphaba was a little defensive, but not at all afraid and Glinda had managed to show extreme poise.

"I see we have another talented young lady here," the Wizard said as he was introduced to Nessa. "Also from the East."

"I am honored to be here, your Ozness." Nessa couldn't curtsey in her chair, but she did the best she could anyway.

"Misses Glinda and Elphaba, the two of you are merely a month or so away from your graduation, is that correct?"

Glinda and Elphaba nodded.

"Have you given thought to my offer?"

Elphaba took a deep breath. "I have, sir. But, as you just said, my sister is also from the East and it would be unnecessary for us both to be there…"

"You do have a point, Miss Elphaba. Shall I send you or your sister to the South? I was informed that you both spent time in Quadling Country as children."

Elphaba bit her lip. "What about the West, sir?"

"I believe I said I wasn't too concerned with the West."

"You didn't sound concerned about the South until just now, either."

The Wizard sighed. "What are you getting at, Miss Elphaba?"

Glinda threw herself into the conversation. "I think what she is asking is if she could be your representative in the West rather than the East or South. I know you are not at all concerned about the people out there, but Elphaba has spent some time in the Vinkus the past few years. They have become very modern and there are a lot of people out there, your Ozness. How long has it been since you last sent any of the Gale Force out there?"

"I like to leave them well enough alone. But if, as you say, they are more developed out there than I thought, you are right in being concerned about the West. Why, though, does Miss Elphaba so insist on going west when she is in line to become Eminent Thropp?"

"My sister is perfectly qualified, sir. And I believe that the people of Munchkinland will obey her and respect her much more than I, given my strange appearance. The people in the West do not seem to look at me as though I am any different."

"But why not go South, then?"

Fine. She was going to have to come out with it after all, wasn't she? "I'm dating a Vinkun prince," she said shortly.

Morrible did a double take. "That is why I am always seeing you around campus with Master Fiyero, isn't it? Why haven't you mentioned this to me before, Miss Elphaba? I like to believe I am somewhat of a mentor to you and that you would be comfortable telling me this sort of thing."

Elphaba lowered her eyes. "We've been together three years now. I guess I just thought everyone knew."

Glinda bit back a laugh at that and merely smiled. "They're always together. It's so obvious!"

Nessa had been silent for this portion of the conversation. Though she knew about Elphaba and Fiyero, she had taken to ignoring it. It was clear from her face that the idea of her sister moving out west was not something she was particularly fond of. "If this is what you really want, dear sister, and what you believe the Unnamed God has planned for you, then I will not protest."

"It is."

"I hate to interrupt this family discussion," the Wizard said condescendingly, "but we need to continue discussing this proposal."

Elphaba clenched her jaw but forced a smile. "I apologize, sir."

"Now, what do you propose I do about the South?"

"Isn't that what you're supposed to figure out?"

The Wizard glared at her. "If you want me to change my plan for your pathetic little romance, you had better figure out how to help."

Elphaba felt Glinda squeeze her hand. "Yes, sir. I… I'm not quite sure."

"I have a meeting coming up soon. Would you mind if we reconvened this tomorrow?" The Wizard demanded, not asked.

All three girls nodded. They joined Nanny and went back to their hotel.

Elphaba sat herself on the bed in the room she and Glinda shared. "Well, he's an asshole."

"I wouldn't suggest saying that to his face, especially if you really want to be in the West. Are you sure about the West, Elphie? That's a pretty big commitment."

"There is plenty of space out there. I'll find somewhere to be a spinster if Fiyero and I don't work out, Glinda."

"Has he proposed to you yet?"

"You really think I wouldn't tell you right away if he did?" Elphaba laughed. "And no, he hasn't. I don't want to hear it from him now anyway."

"Why not?"

"I will not even agree to a marriage until I am done with college, Glinda."

"That makes sense, I guess." Glinda made a mental note to tell Fiyero this, since he had asked her about how he might go about proposing to Elphaba. "But what are you going to do about the situation with the South?"

"I have no clue. Any ideas?"

Glinda propped her head up in her hands. "Hmm. Do you think your brother is any good at sorcery?" She was only half-joking.

"He's twelve."

"True. What about Morrible?"

Elphaba coughed. "You're kidding."

"Not really. She'll get old soon and she'll die, like the Wizard, and maybe we can replace her with someone more agreeable to us."

"But she has to be at Shiz."

"She's been making little side comments about retiring for months now, Elphie. This would be perfect. You know she likes to be as close to power as she can get."

"We could suggest it," Elphaba said hesitantly.

"_You_ should. After all, he wanted you to come up with the idea. But Elphie, I'm exhausted. It was pretty tense in there. I want to go to sleep."

"That sounds like a good idea."

The next afternoon, they found themselves back in the Wizard's chambers. The Wizard, looking stern as usual, looked harshly at Elphaba. "Have you found me a solution to your problem?"

"I may have."

"Then do tell me about it."

"I believe Madame Morrible would be perfect for the job, sir. She is great at administering things around Shiz and I'm sure she would be a wonderful delegate."

Morrible looked shocked. "Elphaba, what an interesting idea! I am so honored that you thought of me."

Elphaba faked a smile. "There's no other person who could do the job the way you could, Madame."

The Wizard turned to Madame Morrible. "The girl makes a compelling argument. What do you say, Slyria?"

The three girls looked at each other. They'd never heard Morrible's first name before.

"I'd be happy to. I've found a wonderful young man who would be a great headmaster for Shiz. I would be able to leave my post without worry."

"Then it is done. You get your way, Miss Elphaba, as it seems you usually do. But tread carefully."


	41. Chapter 41: Wait

**AN: Re-reading this reminded me of something. My second semester in college, I had just broken up with my ex and I'd been talking to this other guy, who I was "sort of" seeing? (College is complicated, ugh!) Anyway, he came by my room one evening and my roommate opened the door. One of her male friends was over and my guy friend sat down on the bed. The two of them were staring at him and suddenly my roommate stands up straight and says in a deep voice "What are your intentions with my roommate?" I want a scene like that. Of course, it's too late in this story and all of my other stories can't work it in, either. I guess I'll have to write another one (once I've moved on with some of the others, of course).  
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**Also, thank you, YeroIsMyHero, for reviewing. This story, for whatever reason, gets so few reviews compared to everything else.  
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**Chapter 41: Wait**

When the girls returned, Fiyero waited outside for them eagerly. He wrapped Elphaba in a hug the moment she stepped out of the carriage.

"Fiyero! In front of everyone?"

"At this point, Fae, is there anyone here at Shiz who really doesn't know?"

Elphaba smiled at that. "You're right."

"So, tell me what happened."

"You are looking at the Wizard's new delegate of the West!"

He kissed her, wrapping his arms around her waist. When he pulled away, he grinned (not noticing Nanny shaking her head, Nessa frowning and Glinda giggling). "Thank Oz. How'd you do it?"

"Morrible is going to be in the South, Nessa in the East and Glinda in the North."

"Morrible?"

"It was Glinda's idea. It actually made sense."

Fiyero held Elphaba at arm's length. "So now we know for sure. Elphie, I've so badly wanted to…" He looked over Elphaba's shoulder and saw Glinda shaking her head madly.

Elphaba looked up at him and cocked her head. "You've so badly wanted to what?"

"To… to know what the Wizard would say. Now at least we know we can be together if we want. Is that what you want?"

"I'd like us to stay together, yes." Elphaba stared at him, clearly confused. "But we already agreed that's what would happen if things worked out."

"I know, I know. I was just checking."

Elphaba laughed. "You are strange sometimes, my love."

"Likewise."

The next day, Elphaba went to the library to study about the West (despite the fact that Fiyero offered to tell her everything he knew) and Fiyero went to talk to Glinda.

She opened the door and wasn't surprised to see him. "Hello, Fiyero." She allowed him inside.

"Hey." He sat down on Elphaba's chair. "What happened yesterday? I was about to… well, you know."

"She does not want to be engaged until she is done with college. She told me while we were in the City. I knew what you were about to say; I saw you reach into your pocket. I had to stop you. Believe me, I want the best for both of you, and her rejecting your proposal would not have been part of that. Wait just a little while." Glinda sat down on her bed.

"Thanks for that."

"I know you'll be good to Elphie. No one else would've put up with half of the crazy things she's done. You don't just put up with them, you love her for them."

"Do you think she will marry me?"

"Something about the way she said that she didn't want to hear it until after she was done with school told me she _did_ really want to hear it. When you ask, so long as you wait, I think she'll marry you."

Fiyero smiled. "That's comforting to hear."

"I see how she talks about you, Fiyero. It's like she's trying to act like she's fine on her own and doesn't care, but she so clearly does. You should've seen her the morning she came in here after…"

"After what?"

Glinda merely raised her eyebrows.

Fiyero understood and flushed. "So you know about that."

"Are you surprised?"

"No. I figured she'd tell you."

"What girl isn't going to tell her best friend when she loses her virginity? Then again, she might not have if I hadn't forced it out of her."

"That sounds more like her."

"Well, she couldn't expect me to pretend to ignore the way she looked when she walked in here! And the look on her face – she was clearly thinking about _something_."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you realize that if her father found out she wasn't a virgin, he'd punish her severely? Perhaps even have her killed? At least that's what she thinks."

Fiyero stared at Glinda, wide-eyed. "Are you serious?"

Glinda nodded solemnly.

"And she did it anyway…"

"Because she does love you, Fiyero. And, um, from the things she inadvertently told me, I don't exactly think she was regretting her decision in any way."

"I wish she'd have told me. I might not have…"

"And that's why she didn't tell you. She didn't want it getting in the way. Besides, her father never has to find out. If you guys get married at Kiamo Ko, who is going to tell him? In Munchkinland, her father has the power to demand she see a doctor and that the sheets be displayed for the town, but not in the Vinkus."

"We don't do anything like that out there. It just sounds kind of… sick."

"I agree. And I'm sure Elphaba does, too. Can I see the ring?"

"How do you know I have it on me?"

"Because I think you carry it around with you everywhere."

"You're perceptive." Fiyero took the box out of his pocket and handed it to Glinda.

Glinda peeked into the box. "Oh, it's so lovely. A chocolate diamond surrounded by emeralds. It's beautiful. I'm sure she'll love it!" She handed the box back to Fiyero.

"I love her so much, Glinda. She's going to drive me crazy with the way she pushes me away."

"She is not pushing you away because she doesn't love you, and you know that. But Elphaba wants to at least have the illusion that she's independent. And sometimes I think she's scared."

"She's not scared."

"She is, Fiyero. You and I are the only people who have never rejected her. She doesn't trust that. She can't let herself love you fully if she doesn't trust that you won't leave her. Which is why I think that if you ask her to marry you and she realizes you won't leave, she'll love you the way she really wants to."

Fiyero smiled. "I'm glad she's got you for a roommate."

Glinda giggled. "We got lucky. I don't know what would've happened to either of us if we hadn't ended up in this room together. Maybe she would've ended up anti-social, and I would certainly not have had as many adventures. And I wouldn't have gotten to watch what happened to her when she found you."

"Did you know she liked me? Because I wasn't even sure until she told me."

"I knew. But she was hiding. And it was incredibly obvious you liked her. She refused to believe it. Oh, I'm so happy you two are together. All Elphaba would talk about when we first got here was studying and how she had no interest in being social or meeting boys or anything, and then you came along and completely changed her mind."

"You really think so?"

"Definitely. You pushed and pushed until she couldn't ignore you."

"I always worried I was a little too forward."

"You did what you needed to do."

"You've been good for her, too, Glinda. She has someone to confide in. And without you, she would never have entered a sorcery class. Who would've saved her from that book?"

Glinda blushed. "I guess she and I were just meant to be roommates."

"And friends."

"And friends," Glinda agreed.

Elphaba came back at that point, carrying a couple of books. "Fiyero, what are you doing here?"

"Talking to Glinda."

"He was waiting for you to come back," Glinda lied. "I told him I didn't think you'd be long."

"Why? You had no idea how long I'd be in the library."

"You didn't seem like you'd be gone for too much time."

Elphaba shrugged and sat in Fiyero's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Why do you always bother me when I have studying to do?"

"You're studying about my homeland, Fae. I think I deserve to help! There are things those history books can't tell you."

Elphaba sighed. "You said that earlier."

"And you said it didn't matter. But I disagree."

"You are stubborn."

"Oh, _I'm_ stubborn. Look who's talking!"

Elphaba laughed. "Guilty."

Glinda shook her head, smiling. "I have to go downstairs for a bit. You two behave while I'm gone." She winked at Fiyero and gave him a thumbs up when Elphaba wasn't looking.

Elphaba looked up at Fiyero when Glinda left the room. "She was acting weird. What was that about?"

"Don't ask me. I just got here."


	42. Chapter 42: The Reveal

**AN: There are two chapters left after this one. I've had this one and the next one in my head since the beginning of this story. The last one is just fluff and wrapping up. Anyway, as this story comes to an end, I'd like to say thanks for all who read it. Kind of wondering why no one reviews, but that's okay. Please stay tuned, for my other stories will now be receiving updates. "Forced Love" is already updated. I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. And I hope I can be more mature in my writing in the other stories without ruining the continuity and flow of them. I'll stop babbling and let ya'll get to reading.**

**Chapter 42: The Reveal**

Finally, graduation day had arrived. Elphaba's father was there, along with Nanny and Nessa. Glinda's parents were there. Boq's parents were murmuring excitedly in their seats. Fiyero's parents waved at both he and Elphaba. The ceremony was short – there were only about fifty students graduating. As the crowd began to disperse, Elphaba, Glinda, Fiyero and Boq nervously approached Boq's parents and Frex. Fiyero's parents understood that something was going on and waited for Fiyero in the café.

Fiyero and Glinda stood back as Boq and Elphaba approached their parents. Elphaba went first. "We have something we need to tell you."

Boq looked behind him. Milla was standing a few feet away from Glinda and Fiyero. Glinda saw her and grabbed her hand, dragging her near them and whispering to her. Boq took a deep breath and began. "We…"

"Boq, don't chicken out now." Elphaba murmured.

"We don't want to get married," he spat out.

"That was definitely not how we were going to say it…"

Frex was the first to react. "I don't care what you want. This is something that was decided when you were children. Do you think what you might want mattered to us?"

"Father, please," Elphaba said softly.

"What do you think you're doing? You think that just because the two of you don't wish to marry that we'll change our minds? It is not your decision."

"Actually, it is," Boq said harshly.

Elphaba looked at him. He had never stood up for himself or for anyone in that way before. She smiled a little bit.

"We are twenty-two years old and you need our consent if you want us to get married. And we won't consent," Boq continued.

Elphaba gave Boq a proud glance. "Exactly."

Boq's parents came out of their stupor. His mother reached out to him. "Boq, honey, are you sure you want to do this? Elphaba is a very nice young lady and she is to be Eminent Thropp, think of the status we could gain…"

"You've got that part wrong, too," Elphaba said. "I'm going west to be a delegate for the Wizard. Nessa is to take my place as Eminent Thropp. She will also be a delegate from the East."

Frex grabbed Elphaba and shook her. "How dare you throw your responsibilities on your sister!"

Fiyero couldn't stand by and watch any longer. He ran over and pushed Frex away, getting between the two of them. "Don't you touch her like that. She may be your daughter, but that doesn't give you the right to treat her like a slave."

Elphaba looked at Fiyero, shocked. This was not going the way she had planned it at all. But did anything ever go how she planned?

"Who the hell are you? Some sort of heathen?"

"No, Father. This is Fiyero, a Vinkun prince. He's also my boyfriend. And, despite what you think, Nessa is perfectly capable of being Eminent Thropp; the Wizard himself thought so. So I'll go west, since I have connections there."

Frex was speechless.

Fiyero took Elphaba's hand. "I love your daughter more than you ever could."

Boq turned around and waved at Milla to walk over to him and took her hand. "And this is Milla, my girlfriend."

Frex finally regained his speech. "If you do this, you are no longer my daughter."

Elphaba swallowed hard and closed her eyes as Fiyero wrapped an arm around her waist. "I was never your daughter, Father. Fathers treat daughters better than you ever treated me."

Nessa interjected here, shocking everyone. "Father, you can't just disown her. She's my sister and I won't let you."

Elphaba's eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Nessie."

"I love you, dear sister. As much as I dislike your decision, you are still my sister."

"I love you, too, Nessa."

"I can do what I please, Nessarose," their father insisted.

"Father, please, for me," Nessa begged.

Frex shook his head. "The Unnamed God would never forgive her."

Boq's mother looked at her son. "I won't go so far as to disown you, son, but you can imagine we're none too pleased. I urge you to reconsider."

"The decision is made. I proposed to Milla last night and she has accepted already."

Everyone stared at them for a minute. Milla was wearing an engagement ring, something no one had noticed until that moment. She was flushing, but held fast to Boq's hand. Boq wasn't backing down, either.

"Congratulations, Boq!" Glinda exclaimed, breaking the silence.

The parents glared at her for a moment. Then Frex turned to Nanny. "How could you let this happen under your supervision?"

"I had no idea."

"She didn't," Elphaba said. "Glinda covered for me. I always said I was going to the library."

"You should have known better, old woman!" Frex shouted.

Nanny drew herself up. "Even if I had known, what could I have done? No one can stop a Thropp woman when she's set in what she wants to do. Like her mother. You certainly couldn't stop her."

Frex turned almost purple in the face. "You old bitch! You don't know what you're talking about. You've gone completely senile. I shouldn't have sent you here when you clearly weren't capable of watching my daughters."

"You think you could've stopped her? I'd like to have seen you try. Elphaba has always made her own choices. You couldn't possibly think that she'd let you control her love life."

"How long has all this been going on?" Frex demanded. When no one answered, he shouted louder. "HOW LONG?"

"Three and a half years," Elphaba replied unflinchingly.

"You've been seeing this disgusting pagan all this time? Oz only knows what else you've done, you little harlot. I wouldn't be surprised if you are no longer pure in the eyes of the Unnamed God."

Elphaba merely raised her eyebrows at him, unafraid with Fiyero by her side. "So what if I'm not?" It was more than an admission; it was a challenge.

Frex reached for her, going for her neck, but Fiyero got between them and twisted Frex's arm around, expecting the violence after what Glinda had told him, but still shocked that Elphaba's own father could try to hurt her.

"I wouldn't try that." Fiyero let Frex's arm go, shoving him back slightly.

Frex glowered at him, shaking out his arm. "Do you have any idea what you've gotten yourself into, you idiot boy? Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Yes, I do. And I honestly do not care how renowned a priest you are or that you're part of the Thropp family. If you try to hurt Elphaba, I will not hesitate to hurt you."

Elphaba looked into Fiyero's eyes and smiled at him halfheartedly; then she turned to her father, to Boq's parents. "Go ahead. Disown us. Take away everything you've ever given us. We don't care. This is what we want."

Frex began to push Nessa's chair away. "That's exactly what I'll do. Say goodbye to your sister, Nessa."

Nessa looked at Elphaba helpless. "Dearest sister…"

"We'll see each other again one day, Nessie, I promise," Elphaba said, fighting back tears as her father, Nanny and Nessa got further and further away.

Boq's father folded his arms across his chest. "I guess there isn't a point in asking you to reconsider at this point, considering that Frex has reacted like that. How do you plan to start a family, son, without any of our help?"

"We'll manage." Boq was resolute.

Boq's mother softened. "Honey, please…" She looked at her husband.

Boq's father sighed. "We still love you, son. And we'll help you. Maybe not as much as we would have, and there's not much we really can do, but you are still our son."

Elphaba watched this, her heart breaking as she watched the family hug and Boq's mother shake hands with Milla. She had no family now. She wrenched away from Fiyero and ran.


	43. Chapter 43: Can't Wait

**AN: We've been out of internet all day because of rain. Apparently whenever it rains here (which is maybe a week out of the year) we lose internet. Finally it's back up.**

**Chapter 43: Can't Wait**

Fiyero let her go, breathing deeply. He walked over to Glinda. "That didn't end well."

"I had a feeling it wouldn't."

"What do I do now?" Fiyero stared off in the direction Elphaba had gone.

"You know what to do, Fiyero." Glinda smiled at him. "You and I are all she has now. We're not technically her family. But you could be."

Fiyero reached into his pocket and wrapped his hands around the blue velvet box, nodding. "You're right."

"Go find her. I'll be here when she needs me."

Fiyero hugged Glinda. "You are an amazing girl, Glinda. Thank you." He ran after Elphaba. It didn't take him long to figure out where she'd gone. Most of the buildings on campus were locked (not that such a thing was ever a problem for Elphaba). Across the quad was Dr. Dillamond's old lab. No longer worried about angry clocks or being caught, he entered the broken down building.

Elphaba was sitting at Dr. Dillamond's old desk, holding her knees against her chest, head hidden in them, shaking.

Fiyero approached her carefully; he did not want to scare her. "Fae," he whispered.

She looked up at him weakly. "I'm sorry. I just… I should've expected that."

"No. No one should have to expect something like that from their own family."

"When I thought about Father disowning me, I forgot about Nessa…"

Fiyero pulled her out of the chair and wrapped his arms around her, letting her bury her face in his chest. "I know, Fae-Fae."

"It's funny, I shouldn't be upset that my father hates me, but somehow it still hurts."

He held her chin in his hand and kissed her softly. "I understand."

She sighed, wiped her tears away and looked at him. "I guess it's just me now, huh? What's my last name if my father disowned me?"

"Well," he grabbed the box out of his pocket and kneeled, "you could always take mine."

Elphaba's hands flew to her mouth. "Fiyero, are you…?"

He nodded and opened the box. "Will you marry me?"

Elphaba closed her eyes and opened them slowly, a smile creeping across her face. "Yes."

He slid the ring on her finger and stood up. "I love you," he kissed her deeply.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked at him, nose to nose when their lips parted. "I love you, too, Fiyero."

"I can't replace the family you just gave up to be with me, but I can give you as much as I can," he promised.

"That is more than enough," she murmured.

Fiyero kissed her again. "Can we get out of here? I think Glinda's going to want to know about this as soon as physically possible."

Elphaba laughed, eyes shining. "Yes." She let him take her hand and they walked back towards their friends.

Glinda took one look and Elphaba's hand and ran to hug her. "Oh, Elphie, I knew you'd say 'yes.' Congratulations!"

Elphaba hugged her back. "Oh, Glinda, you have to promise to visit us."

"Nothing's going to stop me from visiting my best friend!"

Boq, having talked things over with his parents, walked up to them. "From the shrieking that I just heard, I'm guessing congratulations are in order."

Fiyero put an arm around Elphaba. "I think there are some in order for you, too."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Glinda demanded.

Boq laughed. "I thought today would be a more appropriate occasion."

"It certainly fit the moment," Milla commented.

"We'd love to stay and talk, but my parents are waiting for me." Fiyero grabbed Elphaba's hand again. "Come, we have to go tell my parents." He dragged her towards the café.

"Can I come?" Glinda asked excitedly.

"Aren't your parents waiting for you?"

"I'm sure they're having a great time schmoozing with the other Gilikin parents. They won't miss me for a few more minutes."

The three of them walked towards the café, holding hands, Elphaba in the middle. When they walked to the table, Fiyero's father stood up. "Good to see you again, Elphaba."

"You, too, sir."

"This is our friend, Glinda," Fiyero gestured to Glinda.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Who is that?" Glinda whispered, pointing to a man a little older than them sitting beside Fiyero's mother.

"I don't know." Elphaba shrugged.

"That's my cousin," Fiyero said. "He's only a few years older than me."

"He's cute," Glinda whispered so only Elphaba could hear.

Elphaba stared at Glinda. "Why Glinda of the Arduennas, what on earth are you saying?"

"I'm just making a comment."

Elphaba smiled as everyone took a seat, Glinda purposely sitting across from Fiyero's cousin.

"Father, Mother, I have an announcement to make," Fiyero said as everyone quieted down. "I have asked Elphaba to marry me and she has accepted, making today the happiest day of my life."

Elphaba flushed a deep crimson.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Fiyero's mother exclaimed, tears already running down her face. "Welcome to the family, Elphaba."

Elphaba smiled as Fiyero's mother hugged her. "Thank you."

"Elphaba's going to need to stay with us until the wedding, whenever that may be," Fiyero said to his father.

"That's not a problem, son." Fiyero's parents knew that whatever reason Elphaba wouldn't be living with her own family was a sensitive subject, and so they left it alone.

Fiyero took her hand and led her away from the table into a corner. "The wedding damn well better be soon because I am not going to be able to live in the same place as you and keep my hands off you, but the palace isn't _that_ big, and my father has a key to every room."

Elphaba shook her head at him, "You are insatiable."

"I think we should just get married now so I don't have to wait," he joked.

"I'd rather like to wait just a little," Elphaba laughed.

Fiyero paused for a moment and cupped Elphaba's cheek. "Elphaba, I didn't expect for your father to react that harshly. He literally went for your throat. That scared me."

She sighed. "I know. I worried that might happen…"

"You really knew he'd do that?"

"I hoped he wouldn't. Fiyero, my father is a fanatic. He believes any promise he made in front of the Unnamed God is sacred. And he certainly does not believe in sex before marriage. He takes that very seriously, I guess."

"Does he know that child abuse is a sin, Fae? I thought he actually wanted to kill you. That look in his eyes…"

Elphaba smiled up at him. "Well, you came to my rescue, just like always." She shuddered a little. "But the virginity thing… maybe I shouldn't have been so rude about it and he wouldn't have reacted that way."

"Don't blame yourself for his actions. I know there are parents who would be disappointed if their child didn't wait until marriage, some who would even punish them, but not like that. That was uncalled for. It's not like you were pregnant, and even then, he'd have no right."

"I know, Fiyero. Can you please leave it alone? I'm not proud of my father or the way he behaved, and I certainly don't appreciate what he just did. I told Nessa we'd see each other again, and maybe we will in meetings with the Wizard, but I don't even know if we really will."

He kissed her gently. "I'm sorry, Fae."

"Don't be. This was my decision, not yours. Having you and not having to marry Boq makes my future a lot better than it was as my father had planned it."

"I didn't know Boq had a girlfriend, by the way."

"He didn't tell you? I thought you guys were close."

"The past year or so he's been pretty busy… well, now I know why."

"Hey, you two lovebirds, come back over here!" Glinda called, waving the couple towards the table. "Lenit hasn't gotten the chance to congratulate you," she gestured to Fiyero's cousin.

"They're on a first name basis already?"

Elphaba laughed. "That's Glinda for you."


	44. Chapter 44: A New Family

**AN: This chapter is partially rated M. And it's the final chapter. If you want to skip the "naughty" parts, read until the break, then read the last few lines. Thanks.**

**Chapter 44: A New Family**

They had arranged the wedding to be a month from the day Fiyero had proposed. It gave their out-of-town friends (like Glinda) time to get home for a few weeks and then journey out to Kiamo Ko. Glinda came early, of course. Elphaba wanted nothing to do with the wedding preparations and let Fiyero's mother plan everything, with a little of Glinda's help. Glinda was constantly chattering at her, at least when she wasn't sneaking off to talk to Lenit – perhaps talk _at_ was the better word, Elphaba couldn't imagine that the poor young man could get a word in.

As Elphaba stood outside the doors to the small Vinkun ceremonial hall, Glinda squeezed her hand. "You must be so nervous."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Nope."

"How?" Glinda looked more nervous than Elphaba did.

"I already made the decision; this is just following through with it."

Glinda sighed. "Elphie, you make this so much less dramatic!" She peeked through the doors and gasped. "Oh, Elphie, you have to see this."

Elphaba raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"Look to the right, Elphie," Glinda said as she pushed her towards the small opening between the two large doors.

Elphaba did as Glinda told her. In seats towards the front, she was certain she saw the back of Nanny and Nessa's heads. There was no sign of her father. "How did they…?"

"I bet it was Fiyero! Who else would've?"

Elphaba felt her eyes tear a little. "You're right. He would do that, wouldn't he?"

Glinda heard the music start up and hugged her best friend. "Oh, Elphie, it's time!"

* * *

><p>They didn't get a moment to themselves until they were shown to their bedchambers, the stairs to which were lined with rose petals (Elphaba laughed at this). The first thing Elphaba did was throw her arms about his neck and hug him. "How did you do it, Yero?"<p>

"Talk you into marrying me? I still don't know. I just got lucky."

"No, no, not that," she flushed, "Nessa and Nanny. How did you get them here?"

"I sent a large envelope claiming to be confidential from the Wizard himself to Nessa and hid the invitation inside of it with instructions to tell your father that she had to meet with the Wizard, no questions asked for business she was not allowed to discuss with him." Fiyero grinned.

Elphaba smiled. "Nessa looked so happy when she and Nanny came up to me during the reception. This would've been a wonderful day no matter what, but you knew exactly how to make it better than wonderful."

Fiyero kissed her neck. "I have other ideas as to how to make this day even better…"

Elphaba smiled. "Oh, you do?" She began slowly unbutton his shirt.

"I've been waiting for this an entire month," he replied. "I worry I'll be so enthusiastic I may hurt you." He continued to kiss his way down her neck, beginning to unzip the dress when he got to the top of her breasts.

"I'd like to see you try," she murmured, running her hands along his chest as he shook himself out of his shirt.

He pulled the dress all of the way down, leaving her standing only in her undergarments. He took a step back and looked at her. "That pile of presents downstairs? Nothing in those boxes could be of any comparison to what's standing right in front of me."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "You and your clichés."

He pulled her back to him and wrapped his hands around her waist, kissing her deeply. He unfastened her bra. When it fell to the ground he continued the journey of kisses where he had left off.

Elphaba grabbed the waistband of his pants and tugged it down.

Fiyero picked her up.

She shrieked, "Fiyero, what in Oz are you doing?"

"I am putting you on the bed. It is our wedding night and you are my wife." He set her down on the bed, looking at her hungrily. Fiyero grabbed the last of her undergarments and tore them off eagerly.

She grabbed his shorts and pulled them off.

He slid a finger into her, testing and finding her flesh moist and ready. Fiyero then pushed her legs all the way open and delved his tongue between the folds of skin, hearing her cry out. He only stayed there for a moment before pulling himself back and touching her cheek. "I love you, my lovely wife."

"I love you, Yero my hero."

He plunged into her, albeit a little roughly, though she certainly wasn't complaining. She wrapped her legs around his waist eagerly. Fiyero didn't waste time and began moving quickly, feeling her hips rise to meet his immediately. Her nails dug into the small of his back as she gasped.

She could barely keep up with him, but she wanted even more. With her legs still around his waist, she pushed him to the side, rolling over completely and finding herself on top of him. Elphaba grinned as he widened his eyes and she slid her hips up and down, first slowly, then hastening her pace. She loved the fact that she could control the exact angle at which he entered her. His hands were on her waist, pulling her onto him as far down as she could go, shuddering at the feeling.

He looked up at her as she continued to move, pressing his hips upward ever so slightly and watching her eyes close in satisfaction and her hips buck from the pleasure. He held her to him tighter. She began to whimper and her movements slowed. Elphaba whispered, "Keep going, I can't keep going, it feels too good…"

He thrust himself upward and into her again and again and she screamed, throwing her head back in ecstasy. Then he pushed her back down so he was again above her. She was still shuddering slightly from climax, but braced the backs of her knees against his shoulders, giving him more leverage. Her hips were shaking.

He slipped a finger along the folds of flesh just above where he was inside her as he moved above her, rubbing against the soft skin, reveling in the sound of her moans. As her hands fell back behind her head and she opened her mouth to scream for a second time, he groaned, joining her in climax.

Slowly, she brought her knees down from his shoulders, her whole body aching pleasantly. He leaned down and kissed her deeply. Elphaba sighed happily. "I will have no trouble sleeping tonight."

He pulled away carefully and lay down beside her, pulling her against his chest. "I'm not so sure about that. Your husband might just wake you up in the middle of the night."

"Oh, will he, now?" Her eyes sparkled.

"He's seriously considering it."

"What if I don't want to wake up?"

Fiyero dangled his fingers in front of her face and stuck out his tongue. "Then I'll have to be creative."

"I think I'll have to try to stay asleep just for that, then," she teased. She turned to face him. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Fae. I'm glad that seeing your sister made you happy."

"It did. And so do you."

"I did my best," he laughed, sliding a hand along her belly.

"Oh, not like that."

"I know. I'm teasing, Fae."

"But really, you do make me happy, Yero."

"Even though you lost your family to be with me?"

"Don't put it that way."

"Then how else do I say it?"

"Well, your parents are wonderful people. And from what I've seen of your cousin and Glinda, he might well be moving up North soon. I have you. I like to think I have a whole new family right here."


End file.
